ROSMARINUS officinalis. Rosemary. Mediterranean area. Shrubby mint allies of variable habit. Their shared features include densely packed, narrow, pungently aromatic leaves and irregular, two-lipped lavender blue blossoms. They fill several niches as ornamentals, in addition to their role as an essential cooking herb. Sun, reasonably well drained soil, moderate to occasional watering. Hardy to 15oF or less.
‘Blue Spires’. Our information on this plant is still sketchy. It is well branched at the base, each shoot sweeping upright. I would guess its ultimate height to be 4-5'. Flowers are abundant and clear blue in color, though not as dark as those of ‘Collingwood Ingram’ or ‘Ken Taylor’, below.
‘Huntington Blue’, also widely known as ‘Huntington Carpet’, makes an unusually dense cover. It is ultimately a little over 1' tall and several feet broad. Small, closely spaced, narrow leaves give it a refined appearance. Flowers are of a brighter, bluer shade than those of most selections.
‘Irene’. This is a purported cross of ‘Ken Taylor’ and the old ‘Prostratus’, recently introduced and patented by Phil Johnson. It is trailing in habit, nearly as dense as ‘Huntington Blue’, with dark, narrow leaves. It flowers most profusely in spring, carrying a scattering of blossoms in summer. Their color is a bright lavender blue at its best, in cool weather, bleaching like that of many rosemaries with more heat.
‘Ken Taylor’ is an attractive sport of ‘Collingwood Ingram’, introduced by the late Ken Taylor. It has weaker branches than the original and trails more like ‘Prostratus’ down banks and walls. The leaves are the same lustrous dark green, and the flowers the same bright lavender blue, as the original.
‘Majorca Pink’. This cultivar grows up to 4’ high, with long, arching branches (though it may easily be pruned into a tighter mass). The plants are profuse in bloom, with interesting pink flowers, tinged to varying degrees with lavender.
‘Spice Islands’. A robust selection, once used commercially by the Spice Islands company and brought to the nursery by Jim Marshall for trial and propagation. It has stout, mostly upright trunks rising at least 6'. The leaves are thick, sturdy and darkly colored. Flowers are large and of the typical rosemary blue. This should be a fine plant for large hedges and borders.
‘Tuscan Blue’. This selection is reputed to grow 6' tall, but I would doubt the plant received under this name would exceed 3'. It is a bushy but upright shrub, with larger leaves than the prostrate selections, though similarly dark green. The flowers are bright lavender blue.