A rosemary bonsai?

zeb

I've just bought a rosemary as a little bush with seven trunks.
How can I make it into a bonsai and what should I do it when the next dormant season comes?

I've heard that rosemary cuttings root easily and I already have some cuttings from it.
Is it true that they root easily?

If anyone can answer any of these questions, please do.


Ossi Hanhinen

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erubeck

Ossie:

It is my understanding that Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) makes a great herbal bonsai. There is a book written by Richard Bender entitled [u:e2f49da358]Herbal Bonsai, Practicing the Art with Fast-Growing Herbs[/u:e2f49da358] in which he says "Rosemary is perhaps the best herb to grow as bonsai. It's widely available, easy to grow, survives well in pots kept indoors, and resembles traditional pines. Rosemary is long-lived compared with many other herbs and can be kept alive for thirty years or more."

Propagation by cuttings is the preferred method. I have two cuttings that are doing quite well indoors since the first of the year. The parent plant unfortunately succumbed to over watering (I am a beginner and beginners tend to over water) but, hopefully, I have learned a lesson.

Good luck with your Rosemary. Please post a picture of it when you get it styled. Unlike trees, it can be fully developed in about 6 to 9 months.

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Regards,

Ed

zeb

Thank you very much, Nipper!

That was great information. Maybe I'll buy the book or get it from a library.

But, how about the dormant season? Can it be kept indoors all year round or
should it be wintered? If so, what is the ideal temperature?


Thanks,
Ossi Hanhinen

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Two men were walking down a road. The one on the left was interested in bonsai. The one on the right had no money either.

erubeck

If the Rosemary is kept outside in a cold climate it is an annual herb. Kept inside it becomes perrenial. Mine have done well under grow lights at about 60º to 65ºF all winter. I will put them outside when the danger of frost is passed.

I would treat them as I would a tropical bonsai. i.e Fukien Tea or Ficus.

__________________
Regards,

Ed

zeb

Thank you again!
That was great news. You know, I don't have to build a heated greenhouse

You have helped me a lot with my rosemary. If you want to see it, it is in the gallery as "Rosemary".


Ossi Hanhinen

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Two men were walking down a road. The one on the left was interested in bonsai. The one on the right had no money either.

TreeBay

In the landscape it's a little hardier than this thread might lead you to believe.

http://doityourself.com/flowers/plantprofilerosemary.htm

"Most rosemary varieties are reliably hardy to only 20[sup]o[/sup]F"

I have a man-eating rosemary in the back yard that escaped d the confines of a 1 gallon container and planted itself in the ground. *No moving that baby now without a machete. *It tolerated 30F no problem but it's against the foundation.

Regards,

Matt

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zeb

Thanks, Matt

However, here in Finland the danger of frosts is not passed until the early may.
So, it I put it outside now, it may still die. And I just heard that rosemaries are grown in
greenhouses here.
There are no species that can tolerate the temperature of even -5[sup]o[/sup]F in the winter.

Ossi Hanhinen

__________________
Two men were walking down a road. The one on the left was interested in bonsai. The one on the right had no money either.