The upright forms of Rosemary are graceful, architectural evergreen shrubs with cast iron constitutions. Tuscan Blue is a particularly nice form with bright blue flowers. Not to sound too unappreciative of the workhorse groundcover prostrate rosemary, the tall forms in my opinion have a lot more going for them.

The bright blue flowers start blooming for us in January or February and continue until sometime in April when the new growth flush starts. The leaves are a brighter cleaner green than the usual prostrate form, and stay that way even in the searing heat of Central Valley summers. As the branches grow upward, they tend to lean and then grow upward again, with side branches doing the same thing. It give an impression of graceful swaying, and each plant develops a character all its own. This cultivar is also a good one for creating rosemary topiary standards, since it is a strong upright grower.

The only problems I have seen with Tuscan Blue, is that if grown with frequent overhead watering, sometimes whole branches will suddenly die. The plants are incredibly drought tolerant, and frequent water is simply not necessary.

As an indication of rosemary's tough constitution, the hillsides above the Adriatic Sea on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia and Montenegro (formerly part of Yugoslavia) look almost exactly like the hills above Santa Barbara. But where California has the narrow-leaved Chamise (Adenostema fasciculatum), the Adriatic has Rosemary. And underneath you can find oregano scattered about. It was quite a revelation for this California Kid while traveling through in the early 70's after college.

Catalog description by Gary Matson