by rosemary
dew of the sea
woody herb in my garden
evergreen hemlock-like needles
greens for fall and winter bouquets
overly strong fragrant oils on my fingers
name of a childhood friend
Added Nov.15th:
The phrase ‘rosemary for remembrance’ has been playing in my head.
Just now, I’ve found the source, dear Will Shakespeare, of course:
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember: and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.
– Hamlet (1601) act 4, scene 5
(from The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations)
November 14, 2012 in Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
I love the silver in rosemary leaves – a favourite plant in so many ways.
I can just imagine its scent after being closed in the scanner! We always have a rosemary plant and treat her as a family pet.
Olga, I love that silver too. I don’t always remember to use it directly in cooking because the leaves are so tough.
Julia, hi! Rosemary as a pet, now that sounds delightful. Actually, this was scanned with the lid open – it gives me the black background. My office still smells of rosemary hours later, but not as strong as it was on my fingers.
I’ve had a little spice jar of rosemary in my cabinet for ages. You’re right about the tough leaves. For spaghetti sauce spicing, I’ll add just a tad to my mortar and pestle it into softness together with the other spices.
The aroma is divine! Love your verse.
It’s a pretty plant and even nicer when it’s in flower. I recall reading that during the Middle Ages brides wore crowns made of rosemary and then the new couple would plant a sprig to ensure a long and happy marriage. Did you know they’re said not to grow in the gardens of evil people?
rouchswalwe, maybe I have to get a mortar and pestle. I do buy the finely ground rosemary but it’s a shame not to use one’s own homegrown. Glad you like the ‘verse’ though I’m no poet.
Susan, I missed capturing the flowers this time, a pretty pale blue. I did not know those two wonderfu stories about rosemary. I guess I’m not evil then, though maybe I was bad when my original rosemary bush froze one winter a few years ago!
I love the smell of rosemary, and the taste although I cook with it rarely. I was just thinking of making a hunter’s chicken recipe tomorrow night that’s full of mushrooms and tomatoes and fresh rosemary. I did grow rosemary in a pot on my old condo deck once (rosemary for remembrance). I should do that here next year.
Leslee, rosemary looks great in a pot, even a mixed one with some flowers, do it!
Won’t grow in the gardens of evil people… You can tell that one’s old! Today evil people wouldn’t bother having gardens.
I suppose it was because rosemary was regarded as holy.
It is an holy tree and with folk that hath been rightful and just gladly it groweth and thriveth. In growing it passeth not commonly in height the height of our Lord Jesu Christ while he walked as a man on earth, that is man’s height and half, as man is now; nor, after it is 33 years old, it growth not in height but waxeth in breadth and that but little. It never seareth all but if some of the aforesaid four weathers make it. –Fr. Henry Daniel, 15th C
THE ROSEMARY BRANCH.
by Robert Herrick
GROW for two ends, it matters not at all,
Be ‘t for my bridal or my burial.
Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol II.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 37.
Marly, what a font of fascinating information you are (an excellent attribute for a writer). And what attributes given to an herb. Did you also see the mythology mentioned in the wikipedia entry, ‘dew of the sea’, above? I will be looking at my rosemary bush with different eyes.
Just brought my own small plant inside for the winter — I’m always envious of thee rosemary “bushes” of my friends in warmer climates!
Beth, does your rosemary grow well indoors, presumably in a bright window? I’ve not tried it myself.