Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)

Rosemary is one of our favorite pollinator plants! It pulls double duty - feeding both bees and people, and is an easy, beautiful, and delicious addition to any garden. Rosemary also provides an important early nectar source for emerging spring bees, like bumbles and masons.

Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarius officinalis - now a synonym)  is a perennial evergreen native to the Mediterranean basin that has naturalized throughout the world. With needle-like leaves on woody branches, it typically flowers spring through summer with small blue, white or pink flower heads, and is sometimes seen as early as mid-winter. Being from the Mediterranean, it is drought tolerant and enjoys full sun, though it does grow well in a variety of climates. 

A Bee Favorite!

Rosemary attracts a variety of bees including mason, bumble, mining, and honey bees. It is great for other pollinators, as well, like nectar-feeding flies and butterflies. Rosemary’s ability to flower early (sometimes as early as February in the northern hemisphere) and its long blooming window make these plants an especially attractive pollinating perennial. Early flowering plants are especially helpful for early emerging bee species, like mason bees, that have a short foraging window (early to late spring).

A People Favorite, Too

Rosemary has been used for both medicinal and culinary purposes for centuries. The needle-like leaves can be used fresh or dried, and is delicious on poultry, with white beans or in soups and stews. A few sprigs of rosemary are lovely in a vase on their own or with other flowers. Add it to oil for a few months and make an infused rosemary oil or put it into an herbal blend to create a tea. And just like the bees, we can enjoy rosemary flowers, too! Add rosemary flower buds to a cheese plate or salad as a garnish; their sweet-savory taste is one of our favorites from the edible flower world. 

How To Grow

Rosemary is simple to care for once established. It can be difficult, but not impossible, to start from seed, though an easier approach would be to buy a transplant from a reputable local source (one that does not employ neonicotinoids in its cultivation) or through propagation. To propagate rosemary, simply cut an eight to twelve-inch stem from an established plant, remove the bottom six inches of leaves and plant the stem directly into moistened soil. Keep your propagated stem in moist soil medium until it begins establishing roots. Rosemary transplants or propagated plants need to be grown in full sun. It is a good idea to water your new transplant regularly through the plant’s first season. After its establishing period, you can treat rosemary as a drought-tolerant plant, only giving it water when necessary during the hottest part of the year!