© Karen Andrews
Real Christmas trees are often too tall and wide for modern, compact homes. One surprising alternative is the Rosemary Christmas tree. The shrub has obvious advantages by comparison with the traditional real or artificial trees. Rosemary is turning into the plant personality of the year.
Rosemary Tree Advantages
© Karen Andrews
Rosemary trees are trimmed to a neat conical shape. They can fit into small homes on a table top. They are strong enough to bear a few Christmas lights or baubles. They will scent the room for the Christmas period. After Christmas, you can plant your Rosemary out in a pot on a small balcony, on a patio or in your garden. Forget all the major hassle of disposal. You will need to remember to water your tree, but in return you can add a few clippings to your Christmas culinary masterpieces. Now, what traditional tree can compete with that?
Family Issues
Quite apart from metamorphosing into a Christmas tree, Rosemary has gardeners scratching their heads about another revelation. Family issues are nothing new throughout the land at Christmas. Skeletons come out of closets. Rosemary is no exception. Scientists identified new, close relatives and a name change a few years ago. The news is now filtering through to gardeners.
New Name, Same Plant
The RHS’s Head of Horticultural Taxonomy stated that it was important that the Latin naming system reflects the latest science. Rosmarinus officinalis is now officially known as Salvia rosmarinus by scientists, botanists, horticulturalists and gardeners. She remains Rosemary to all who know and love her.
© Karen Andrews
References and Further Reading
- Bowie-Sell, Daisy (2019): Rosemary named a salvia after RHS classification. Gardens Illustrated. 27 November 2019.
- Horton, Helena (2019): Rosemary is not a rosemary, rules RHS – it’s a sage, as they tell gardeners to change plant labels. The Telegraph. 22 November 2019.
Copyright Note
Karen does not seek or receive any commercial interest or advantage from this blog. She is not promoting any business venture. She simply loves to share fascinating facts about plants. These pages illustrate her love of plants, botany, biodiversity, gardens and creative expression. There is always so much to learn about plant diversity. This blog is designed as a showcase for photography, commentary on plants and wildlife, gardens and other places visited, horticulture and related topics. Viewpoints are her own, not those of her employer.
© Karen Andrews 2018 onwards. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Karen Andrews and BotanyKaren.net with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.