Rosemary

Aside from a great seasoning when cooking lamb, rosemary is also famous as part of western culture. Whether it’s from the song “Scarborough Fair” which lists rosemary among others herbs in its lyrics or from Ophelia’s words to Hamlet, after he has driven her completely loopy, where she offers rosemary for remembrance, it’s clear this is one of the more prominent herbs in our culture.

Historically, rosemary was used for preserving meat – which is probably the reason we still use it to flavour meats today – but it has also been used over time as an antidepressant, to help blood pressure, treat head lice and, of course as Ophelia said, to help remember, something that has been proven in tests with Alzheimer’s patients.

In magical terms rosemary is connected with the sun and fire and can be used to help mental clarity and in memory spells. It is also a herb of protection and a sprig of rosemary under your pillow will help keep nightmares away and can be used to cast a magic circle with when doing rituals.

BE CAREFUL! Rosemary can be dangerous in consumed in very large amounts and the essential oil is poisonous!

Rosemary is an excellent herb for those of us who are amateurs in the garden as its pretty resilient to pests and, as it is a Mediterranean herb, is also fairly drought resistance too.

It’s lovely in a garden, as it keeps its foliage all year, and develops little blue, white or pink flowers in late spring and early summer. It likes warm sunny areas to grow and though older plants can be quite hardy in dry weather young plants should be kept moist.

Though rosemary is a great plant for those starting out in garden it’s not so brilliant for growing indoors or on a windowsill as it can get really big, occasionally up to 2 meters high!