Hardy Rosemary for Cold Climate
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Question
A few years back I was told that there are different types of rosemary, and that one in particular is better suited to a cooler climate like ours and would survive the winter outdoors.
I bought it and was very happy with it and it did survive the winters. I moved and it stayed behind and I'd like to buy another one but I can't remember what type it was. I think it may have been Greek rosemary. Do you know anything about this? What would you recommend for best survival during our winters?
Image by Flickr/OliBac
Rosemary ‘Arp’ is the most hardy for BC's cool climate
Answer
Most likely you had rosemary ‘Arp’. It is the most hardy for our climate.
Two winters ago even it would have died, though.
That extremely cold winter was unusual and so hopefully that won't happen again.
I have grown many kinds of rosemary. The creeping ones never survived. Others lived for years but all except one died a couple of years ago in a bad winter.
The survivor is Tuscan Blue. It is about 35 years old, as tall as me, and has bright blue flowers every winter.
Diane Whitehead Victoria
I have an Arp rosemary in my Dunbar garden, which has grown very large over these past 15 years. I prune it every couple of years and take cuttings in August. It has survived some quite harsh winters. It is against a garage in a sunny part of the garden. Anne
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