I’ll admit right up front that I’ve been dealing with a serious case of Italian envy since I returned from Italy this summer.  This has manifested itself in all kinds of ways that I won’t bore you with, but I have decided that I will grow rosemary outdoors in the ground, just like they do back in Italy.

The fact that the Italian climate is much warmer than ours, and that the country is surrounded by the Mediterranean Ocean, matters little to me.  I have tasted ripe figs grown outdoors in the Okanagan; nothing is impossible if you only believe it can happen.

Whenever I smelled the rosemary that came into our garden centre I used to think “roast chicken.”  That was before I came down with Italian envy.  Now the fragrance of rosemary sends me right back to daily indulgences in gelato, passiagatas (strolls) on warm evenings through the town square, fresh prosciutto ham and great cappuccinos.  And don’t even mention the fresh pesto sauce.

It’s a very popular plant; we sell hundreds of them each year.  But they are usually treated as an annual, tossed onto the compost heap at the end of the growing season after cutting off as many “sprigs” as can be harvested.
Bringing them indoors to grow can be problematic.  Not enough light and they will become extremely lanky as they stretch towards the window.  Too much heat and you’ll get the same results.  No air circulation results in black sooty mold or mildew.  Too much water will cause the plant to rot; not enough moisture and you’ll have a perfectly preserved dry plant.

But they will survive our Okanagan winters, I’ve seen them.  And I saw enough of them in Italy this summer; robust and four feet tall, oozing that wonderful fragrance on a hot July day and covered with tiny blue flowers to know that I had to have them in my garden.
What is the secret to successfully growing a plant in our Zone 6 climate that is only hardy to Zone 7?  Just like retail and real estate, the key is location, location, location.

Find a sheltered spot, where the winter winds won’t reach.  In the Okanagan that’s generally on the southeast side of the property.  A spot up against a building is fine, as the plant will benefit from the heat absorbed by the walls during winter, but a location in the open is acceptable, as long as there is some protection from the wind, perhaps from a larger shrub nearby.  Winds drying the evergreen foliage will do far more damage than cold ever will.

You can also make your own windscreen by pounding four sticks into the ground around the plant and wrapping burlap on the posts.  Not the most attractive sight in the winter garden, but if it helps to maintain that illusion of an Italian villa, start pounding.

Drainage is critical, as rosemary will not tolerate cold, wet feet over the winter.  Would you?  A mulch around the roots, after the soil has cooled a bit in the fall, will keep those roots at a more constant temperature.  Don’t, however, let the soil dry too much over winter.  Being an evergreen means that rosemary needs to draw some moisture into its foliage to keep it from desiccating over the winter.
Zone 7 means a winter minimum of -18 degrees Celsius.  We might not get that cold this winter.  If the mercury dips below that, cross your fingers, say a prayer for your rosemary and dream about Italy.