I plant rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) in my window boxes each spring because I'm addicted to the scent, but there are a lot of reasons to love this herb. In addition to scenting the air around it--which keeps wildlife at bay--you can rub the tiny leaves on your skin to smell fresh and discourage bugs. It's also an attractive plant, sprouting pale blue flowers in spring, and its growing habit lends it to easy shaping. I've often seen rosemary fashioned into topiaries.
Of course rosemary is best known as a culinary herb, principally with meats. Chefs of all skills and talents keep this versatile herb in their kitchens. Rosemary tea is also quite popular, and can even be useful in alleviating headaches and congestion due to colds.
Historically, the leaves and flowering plant tops of rosemary were combined with other liquids and oils to create medicine to stimulate liver function and raise blood pressure--concoctions that I don't recommend whipping up in your kitchen! These remedies relied upon rosemary's mildly astringent, antiseptic properties which ancient healers also used to treat skin problems, wounds--and even baldness. I'd steer clear of such remedies, since large doses of ingested rosemary can be poisonous--even fatal. Best to stick with a few flavorful leaves adorning the Rosemary Chicken you're making for dinner.
Native to the Mediterranean, which is much milder than the Northeastern United States, it's not a perennial in these parts, but when planted in early spring, it will last a good five months--right up until the first hard frost in autumn. The scent alone--fresh, clean and ever-so-slightly spicy--is reason enough to add it each year to your garden.
No comments:
Post a Comment