How to Care for Rosemary Indoors
In the winter I freeze my herbs from the garden and bring whatever plants I can inside for the winter. This year my Meyer Lemon tree is wintering in our dining room along with this beautiful rosemary plant. Not all herbs tolerate being dragged from inside to outside for season after season, but rosemary is one of the few that can withstand the change. I love that it is so easy to care for and makes the whole house smell incredible whenever I pinch a few leaves. It also means we’ve got beautiful fragrant rosemary to cook with year-round! Here are a few tips for caring for your rosemary plant indoors:
Water: Rosemary likes to stay moist, but not saturated, all the time. Stick your finger 1-inch down into the dirt. If it is dry water it until the water comes through the bottom of the pot.
Sunlight: I’ve positioned our plant directly in front of a sunny window and it is so happy. Rosemary is a Mediteranean plant so it likes at least 6 hours of sun per day if you can manage it. The sunlight doesn’t have to be direct, but any kind of a sunny, airy room is ideal. An atrium is best.
In case of white: If the leaves and tips of the plant begin to turn white my mother has taught me to wrap the pot in plastic wrap so the dirt is covered and place the whole plant in the shower. Let is sit under a gently lukewarm shower for about 5 minutes so it gets thoroughly soaked. This should wash away any white mildew or mites. Repeat as necessary.
Clippings: With plenty of light and water in a warm house rosemary will continue to grow all winter long. Keep it trimmed and shaped by cutting off the green shoots every few weeks. They can be used for cooking. This will keep the plant from getting to lanky and unruly. It will also help it fill out and get bushy in the middle. Santa shopped at Food52 Provisions this year and brought me a gorgeous pair of Japanese garden scissors for this task, but any sharp pair of scissors will do.
With healthy rosemary indoors all winter you can use it for cooking, adding to tea, adding to champagne (crazy, but it is delicious!), and freshening up your house. If you harvest a lot that you want to save for later you can always freeze it!
