I’m Charlie Nardozzi and this is
the Vermont Garden Journal. I remember
on one of my first trips to California I was walking along a garden and gently
brushed my hand along this hedge. The smell surprised and delighted me. It was
my first experience with rosemary. This perennial herb is a great edible landscape
shrub in zones 7 and warmer. However, in
Vermont it falls into the category of herbs that need protection to survive.
Rosemary, scented geraniums, and
lavender of some of the tender perennial herbs that need help overwintering in
our cold climate. While some lavenders, such as ‘Munstead’, will survive
outdoors if protected with bark mulch in November, scented geraniums and
rosemary need to be brought indoors. Here’s what to do. Move potted herbs to a
shady location outdoors now. Give plants a week to acclimate to these low light
conditions. Then move them indoors into a south facing window. Geraniums will
grow fine, getting leggy and needing periodic cutting back. However, rosemary
needs cooler temperatures and higher humidity than found in most homes. Place
rosemary pots on a tray filled with a layer pebbles and water in a 50 degree,
sunny room. Keep the soil barely moist all winter and then move the plants back
outdoors next spring.
Now for this week’s tip, leave the
flower heads of echinacea, rudbeckia, and tithonia on the plants after their
done blooming. Small birds, such as goldfinches, will to eat the seeds while
you enjoy them perching in your garden.
Next week on the Vermont Garden
Journal, I’ll be talking about fall lawn care. For now, I’ll be seeing you in
the garden!