Rosemary - Cultivation and Medicinal Uses

"Make thee a box of the wood of rosemary and smell to it and it shall preserve thy youth."

-- Banckes, Herball, 1525

Excessive use of rosemary internally can cause FATAL poisoning. Use rosemary tea sparingly and discontinue use if you feel sick. The amount safe to use would depend on how strong you made the tea, so I can give no generalized recommendations.

Rosemary raises blood pressure so this should not be used internally by people with hypertension.

Rosemary should not be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women.

Rosemary should not be used by anyone with epilepsy.

Rosemary oil should not be rubbed on varicose veins.

Do not use rosemary along with homeopathic remedies as it may reduce their effectiveness.

It makes sense that if you're going to be using a new type of medicine, and rosemary IS a herbal medicine, you should research it thoroughly and if it is within your ability, consult a herbal practitioner or naturalist.

If you're going ahead with this on your own please start slowly. You never know if you might be allergic to something. Take only a small amount at first and work up to a full dose. If you feel this herb is making you sick, discontinue the treatment immediately. Consult a medical doctor if you have any concerns at all about what you're doing.

My disclaimer:
The following list of the uses of rosemary has been derived from a variety of herb information resources. I cannot take responsibility to assure that rosemary will help your condition, or that you cannot be harmed by it. I do not diagnose, nor do I recommend specific treatments for you.

I will say that rosemary grows in my garden and I have used it successfully externally without ill effect for several conditions over the course of many years. I do not use it internally because my blood pressure is high.

If you want professional advice on your medical conditions and the use of herbs, consult a naturopathic physician and/or your family doctor. I am not a doctor; I'm just a herb using woman that grows herbs in her garden for personal use, who has studied herbs over the course of about thirty-five years. I share with you what I've learned from other herbalists (or discovered from my own use of herbs) but don't do any scientific testing. This is folk medicine!

If you love herbs, please follow my "Linda's Herbal" Twitter account.

"For the sickly take this wort rosemary, pound it with oil, smear the sickly one, wonderfully thou healest him."

-- Saxon MS. Herbal

Rosemary can be started from seed, or you can start rosemary from cuttings.

Cuttings: Rosemary can be propagated with cuttings. Cut a twig from two to six inches in height from the new growth of the plant. Remove leaves from the bottom inch and dip into a rooting hormone. Place in potting soil and keep in indirect sunlight. Mist and water daily. Test for roots after two weeks. After you have roots, clip off the top so that your cutting will create branches. Eventually you'll want to plant this outdoors as rosemary does better in the ground than it does in pots.

Seeds: These seeds are a bit difficult to get started. Sow in late spring. When seedlings are three inches high, transplant 18 inches apart.

"As for rosemary I lette it runne all over my garden walls, not onlie because my bees love it, but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and to friendship, whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language."

-- Sir Thomas Moore (1478-1535)

It is safe to eat the flowers though you might notice a different flavor. Normally only the leaves are used.

If you have a need for rosemary in a recipe, you can clip a bit of new growth from the end of a branch and use it fresh anytime.

If you're ready for a large harvest after the plant flowers, clip the branches and bundle about ten of them together. You can tie a bit of twine or string around the ends and hang them upside down in a room in your house, in a tent or shed, or inside paper bags. The paper bags keep insects off the drying plants. The paper bags can be hung on your clothes line outside or in a well-ventilated closet or shed.