Picture taken from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary
In spite of the fact that it ranks high in my list of favorite herbs, I do very little with it, actually. I can only think of two dishes: topped on focaccia, and baked inside the chicken recipe I just described.
Hence, I keep more pots of rosemary than I ever need. Most of the sprigs end up as decor on gift boxes in lieu of ribbons - a bundle of fresh rosemary is a visual and olfactory delight, and the recipients can make use of it in their kitchen. Far more use than an ordinary non-biodegradable length of ribbon.
Growing Rosemary, however, is a bit of a challenge. I used to have twenty pots of rosemary, all in a row -and one by one died on me. I think they were severely over-watered.
Now, Rosemary does not like to keep her feet wet. Far from being a dainty creature, it is actually a robust shrub, used to harsh conditions and sparse nutrients on Mediterranean soil. Since I learned that rosemary prefers to be the alkaline side of the pH scale, I added crushed marble stones, easily available in construction supply stores, in the potting mix. This also enhances drainage which is a boon for this dry-loving plants. I'd rather see the plants a bit on the dry side, rather than water logged.
For the past 5 years, I seem to be doing well with rosemary. I found a spot which they seem to prefer - bright but filtered sunlight, and full morning sun. We keep the potting mix loose and well-draining - not a lot of organic material. And we don't re-pot it too frequently.
I figured, after killing a lot of rosemary plants with too much kindness, that this plant actually thrives on a bit of neglect, and suffocates with too much care. As with a lot of things in life.
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