gardening pages
Rosemary: Rosmarinus species
Rosemary is one of those time-honered plants that has been a part of the Tucson landscape for so long it's easy to look past its many attributes. One thing's for certain: It is highly versatile. Prostrate forms of rosemary can be clumping, mounding, creeping, or trailing—depending on the variety you choose. Upright selections are also available, which become shrubs to 5 feet high or more with time. For today's smaller home lots, be sure to select cultivars (cultivated varieties that possess certain characteristics) carefully to fit the available garden space.
Most commonly grown is Rosemarinus officinalis prostratus, or prostrate rosemary. Prostrate rosemary spreads 4–8 feet wide and remains less than 2 feet high. Small, light blue to violet flowers are profuse in late winter and early spring, attractive in contrast against the dark green, needlelike leaves. A range of selections are available to choose from. Some have broader leaves, as does Miss Jessup, and others have deeper, brighter colored flowers, such as Collingwood Ingram. Huntington Carpet is a particularly low-growing selection that retains its leaves in the center of the plant better than other creeping forms do. Tuscan Blue is an upright shrub form that grows to 5 feet high.
You can depend on rosemary. It is rugged, thrives in heat, full sun, and poor soil on miserly doses of water. It is an ideal plant as a cover on slopes and banks, and works especially well for erosion control on large areas. For a ground cover, plant rooted cuttings or 1-gallon plants 3 feet apart. It is not appropriate as a lawn substitute because it will not tolerate foot traffic.
Plant rosemary in full sun in soil that drains well. It accepts the normal low temperatures of Tucson winters, tolerating temperatures down to 10°. During summer, provide additional moisture for good appearance—irrigating with a drip system is ideal. Growth increases rapidly once plants are established, after having lived through a summer or two. Plants can actually become invasive, requiring control on a regular basis around nearby plants and along the edges of curbs, walks, or lawns. To renew plants each year, cut back into hard wood, removing about 6 to 12 inches of stems. Do this after flowering but before heat comes on in late spring. Prune ends of long, spreading branches for better coverage as a ground cover.
Native to the Mediterranean, all forms of rosemary can be used as the culinary herb. Its aromatic foliage is not a favorite of rabbits, but the early spring flowers are highly attractive to bees.
Cool Tool:
Desert Connections
For newcomers to Tucson, or maybe those looking to make their home's landscape desert friendly, here's a very cool tool. The Tucson Botanical Gardens and the Pima County Public Library teamed up to create Desert Connections, a website aimed to inspire and teach desert-appropriate gardening. A glossary (what is a calyx, anyway?), guides to area birds and butterflies, as well as a plant selection tool, are all included to help foster appreciation for desert plants and animals. tucsonbotanical.org/desertconnections
-Sarah Burton
Garden Read
Chasing Wildflowers
Local author and Tucson Home contributor Scott Calhoun hit the road to hunt down blooming beauties. Chasing Wildflowers: A Mad Search for Wild Gardens tracks his scouts to Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, California, and of course, parts of Arizona. More a travelog than a guidebook, this is a fun read for "plant heads" (to use Calhoun's own phrase) that will inspire green thumbs of all levels.
-Sarah Burton