Sweet Rosemary - beautiful plant and edible too!
By Barb
@abbey19 (3106)
Gold Coast, Australia
May 6, 2007 12:39am CST
We are on water restrictions here on the Gold Coast in Australia because of the drought, so it's hard to keep outdoor plants looking good. I've just found one that doesn't need a lot of water - Rosemary! It is so versatile, aromatic and edible - yes, you can eat the flowers! Try them in a salad. Use the leaves as a herb in cooking. For those of you who kill plants - try this one - it will survive anything!The only thing that it doesn't like is conditions below -5 degrees C.
Do you know any other plants that will survive without much water?
3 people like this
5 responses
@rx4life (1930)
• United States
6 May 07
Rosemary is a wonderful plant..I have a huge one right outside my back deck...I go out and break off branches and use them in all sorts of recipes and aromatherapy. One of my favorites is rosemary lemonade...I make a real lemonade and then strip the branches of the rosemary of their "leaves" and place them in a mesh bag or cheese cloth and place that in the lemonade container...I let it set like that for at least 2 hours...it adds a wonderful flavor and aroma to the lemonade..makes it even more refreshing..you can either make the little cheese cloth into squares and then fill them with rosemary and tie them with cute ties and leave them in the container/pitcher for attractive effect..or take them out right before serving and add a washed sprig to each glass...
As for other plants that do well with little water...I recommend cactus of all kinds...they thrive in this environment!!
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
6 May 07
Wow, the rosemary lemonade sounds delicious - I might give it a go myself! Thanks for the tip. I have known about rosemary, but never realized just how versatile it is, so I am going to get a few next week to plant in my front yard up the pathway to the front door; the aroma will be lovely for visitors, and I can use it in cooking too - and make lemonade. Thanks again.
@abbey19 (3106)
• Gold Coast, Australia
6 May 07
I know that now kuirqs, wish I'd known years ago just what a valuable plant it is. I aim to buy some next week to put down the edge of the path from my front door to the driveway. The aroma should be very pleasant to visitors.
Now you have reminded me about the chive plant, how pretty the flowers are; I didn't know it is not very water dependent. Thanks for that little gem.
@kuirqs (512)
• Philippines
7 May 07
I'm pretty sure you'll greatly enjoy your rosemary plants! I have only mine in pots and I plan to transplant them directly on the ground, and I'm hoping that they'll grow well in that environment.
As for chives, hopefully I'll get mine to flower a lot when they've matured more. I've read somewhere that you can get tinted vinegar by soaking the chives' flwers in vinegar exposed to the sun.
@weemam (13372)
•
30 Jun 07
To be honest I don't really know much about herbs ,
We have a gallery near us called the Smiths Institute ,
It has a sensory garden and in it are lots of herbs , I just love to go there and smell all the different ones , Thank you for the information ,
I have learned more to by reading your responses , thanks pal xx
1 person likes this
@kathy77 (7486)
• Australia
6 May 07
Hi Abbey, Yes you are right that it is very difficult to look after our plants when we are on our water restrictions all over Australia, yes I know with rosemary that we can eat it, as I add it to many of my recipes. the hollyhocks do not seem to need that much water as we have many of these but they are not edible.
