Archive for The Gathering Place "The Gathering Place" is a web community where people can gather and make new friends, share ideas, enjoy a few laughs and learn about many interesting things together. It is a safe place where friends can correspond with each other about what they love.
Rosemary is a small, perennial evergreen shrub of the mint family. It is used as a flavoring in foods such as lamb, duck and chicken. The plant has been used widely since around 500 B.C. and was once believed to strengthen the brain and memory functions. In Ancient Greece, students would braid Rosemary into their hair in order to garner success during exams. "Rosemary" is derived from two Latin words meaning "dew of the sea" (because it thrives where fog and salt spray meet). Rosemary is a revered ceremonial herb which symbolizes remembrance, friendship and fidelity. It was thrown into, or placed on, graves and presented to those who grieved as a sign that the deceased would always be remembered. It was also woven into the wreaths of brides, used as a decoration for churches and presented, tied with ribbons, to bridesmaids and guests.
Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife, wore a wreath of Rosemary when she embarked upon her ill-fated marriage to the English monarch. The floors of churches were strewn with the plant at Christmas and housewives would spread it upon the floors of their homes. As a poor man's incense, it was often burnt in place of the real incense.
There are many legends surrounding Rosemary...one being that it was used to awaken Sleeping Beauty...but perhaps the best known is one which states that the plant will never grow taller than the height of Christ and, if it outlives the 33 years of Jesus' life, will grow outward rather than upward. Another legend claims that the flowers were originally white, only changing to blue when Mary, on the flight from Egypt, threw her blue cloak over a bush, thus changing its color and, at the same time, bestowing upon the plant its now distinctive fragrance. A variation of this legend holds that when the Holy Family fled to Egypt, they stopped to rest on a hillside. There, in a small stream, Mary washed the baby's clothes, spreading the tiny garments on a fragrant bush to dry in the sun. For its humble service, the plant was named "Rosemary" and God rewarded it with delicate blossoms of the same heavenly blue as Mary's robe.
To Shakespeare's Ophelia, the herb symbolized remembrance. It was cultivated in monastery gardens for medicine and food and, according to medieval legend, Rosemary decorating the altar at Christmas time would bring special blessings to the recipients and protection against evil spirits. It was also used to garnish the boar's head at the Christmas feast and American colonists would use Rosemary as a scent for soap.
God's Warrior
Until the Twentieth Century, Rosemary was a much sought-after Christmas evergreen. A gilded Rosemary sprig, for example, was considered to be a treasured gift. The reason for its later loss in popularity is unknown, but it is slowly starting to regain its former favor with the use of Rosemary in holiday wreaths and Rosemary topiaries used as small Christmas trees. "An old English garden legend states that where Rosemary thrives, the mistress is master."
"An old English garden legend states that where Rosemary thrives, the mistress is master."
Aloe
Rosemary grows like a bad weed here.
Elena
Rosemary!!!!!!!!!! I just can't keep it living for the life of me. I have one that has made it through 4 winters under the house and a fairly new one that is in a protected area in the yard and has alreadysurvived one mild winter. My friend who gave me the one that will stay outside says that it is hardy. I have my fingers crossed for it this winter. I may build a shield for it like a little greenhouse with air vents on the south side. I am just determined that if anyone else can raise it here, there is no reason I can't. Bad weed, huh? "Boo hoo!"
God's Warrior
Aloe
There is a superstition that says that it is good luck for rosemary to bloom on Christmas.
Elena
I got a small one in a trade from Florida once that was blooming. It is the only one I have ever had to bloom. I thought it was lovely. Wonder why I can't get mine to bloom.
Aloe
Mine just bloom. I don't do anything special with them. All I can tell you is move to California. LOL
God's Warrior
Aloe
This is prostrate rosemary. It grows out instead of up and has smaller needles than regular rosemary. The flowers are blue, though they look white in the picture.
God's Warrior
Elena
OK, looks like we will just have to move to California!!!! I am Rosemary green" with envy. Since you are not really my close neighbor (but are my heart neighbor), is it alright to covet my far away neighbor's rosemary???????? LOL!
Aloe
Sure.
Elena
Tee hee! Thanks!
Carol7
I saw rosemary cut in the shape of a Christmas tree at the grocery store this weekend. It was about 12" tall and they were selling it for $14. I think it would make a great holiday centerpiece and would add a festive touch to anyone's kitchen.
I looked in Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog and their rosemary seeds are reasonably priced. It also said it is hardy in zones 6-10. I wonder when you start trimming the rosemary into the shape of a Christmas tree? I didn't look closely enough at the one in the grocery store to see if it had been recently trimmed.
Elena
They are trimmed pretty severely, from what I have seen. To be honest, if I were doing it, I would let them grow a bit bigger and leave them a little more ragged since casual is more my style than the formal. Walmart has carried them for the last couple of years. I think they are beautiful but I have never invested in one strictley because I didn't know if they were a variety that would survive our winters. I have known several folks who have had them to live outside unless we had a severe winter. I hope my one in the protected area outside will make it. I am not really counting on it too much however.
Carol7
I've never seen them at Walmart, but that's probably because I avoid going in there from Thanksgiving until after Christmas if at all possible. How much does Walmart sell them for?
Would the branches support small, lightweight ornaments?
Elena
I was afraid you would ask that!!!! Tee hee! Since I didn't intend to buy one, I didn't commit the price to memory. (Not that I can remember something even if I do try to commit it to memory!) I think it was in the 12 to 13 dollar range, but don't quote me on that, please. (Maybe you would be safer to never quote me. )
