Monday, January 9, 2012

Goodbye Rosemary and Eric

Alas, poor Eric has died!  Don't mourn, we're not mourning too much.  Eric was our jalapeno plant that has lived in his pot with us for the last 7 years.  Eric started as an experiment that just kept going.  I'm not sure what happened.  He just suddenly turned brown and withered.  Maybe seven and a half was too much for the poor guy.  But he lived a great life.  Outside in the spring through fall and then inside in front of a sunny window for the winter.  He sometimes provided us with hot peppers year round.  Poor Eric, we will miss you.  But, your pot will be cleaned out and a new pepper will take your place in the Spring.  I'll have to have the children name this one as well... I was never sure how they came up with Eric.
Sadly, I am quite disappointed in Rosemary.  I don't know what my problem is but I can never seem to keep rosemary alive over the winter.  I can't even think how many Rosemarys I have managed to kill.  They all do really well outside in their pots over the summer and seem to make the transition into the house well in the fall.  But, ALWAYS they seem to kick the bucket in January or February.  I just don't understand it.  The plant was in a sunny South window with lots of other plants that are still doing well (the Meyer lemon is blooming up a storm) -except for the lemongrass that Spaz seems to think is his personal greenery to chew... but even it is holding it's own.  But Rosemary... NEVER does rosemary survive.  What am I doing wrong??  I wish I knew. I LOVE rosemary... sigh....

10 comments:

  1. I have the same tragic relationship with Rosemary. I received a cute rosemary Xmas tree this year and I am going to give us another chance. This time I am going to be true to the little instruction card she came with, but I have only a small hope.

    Eric? How funny (and sad!)Can't wait to hear the next name!

    My Meyer and kumquat are doing great too (altho, Sr put the Meyer under lights and I'm not sure it liked the environment of the basement. I moved it to the natural (backdoor) light when I noticed blooms. I just picked 6 lemons off of the tree. If they were not so expensive, I would experiment with winterizing one and leaving it outside (I've read they can tolerate down to 20 F if not prolonged and/or one can wrap Xmas lights around the trunk and protect the root ball. I'd hate to lose it though if I messed up!

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  2. Poor Eric! As someone who is lucky enough to have year-round hedges of rosemary, I would think this is the one year you might be able to winter some over out on the deck! They do like a period of cold, (not too cold of course) but ours blooms consistently through 20-40 winter temps, and will survive occasional nights into the teens. They like it relatively dry, but have some pretty decent root systems. Actually, from the looks our the roots on ours, it makes me think its a wonder anyone can grow them in a pot, so you are probably doing well! Maybe it's too warm in the house for it's winter cycle? I am looking forward to all the different veggies I can grow up there that I can't do here, but I sure will miss my rosemary :)

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  3. I've heard 7 in jalapeno years is like 700 human years so Eric lived a long life!

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  4. Perhaps Rosemary is an annual plant. That would certainly explain why everyone died. So sorry about Eric. I have a philadendrum (sp) plant that I've had for 20 years. It should be dead. I forget to water it and she will wither up and look dead, but a little water springs her back to life again. Poor thing. I've treated her badly, but she remains. Perhaps she likes me even tho I am a horrid plant mom. I have been doing better....lol....debbie

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  5. Gina- At least I'm not the only one. We could never leave any cold sensitive plant out in a normal winter. This year- maybe... but usually we've had below 0 days by now.
    Erin- I'm so jealous of your rosemary hedges. I should have thought about leaving it out on the deck more this year since it's been so mild. Of course, that's one more thing to keep in my scattered brain to remember to bring it in at night. I'd probably forget it on a really cold night and lose it anyway. Maybe next year.... And I know they can be kept in pots, Roger has one that he's had in a pot for about 4 or 5 years. He seems to do fine with it.
    Ed- LOL! We were amazed that he just kept going and going... maybe they should have named him energizer.
    Debbie- nope, Rosemary are a shrub. I do think it's just me. I do think that next year I'll try it on the basement landing. With the new door we get lots of sunlight and it's not so warm. Who knows....

    Judy

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  6. You're still doing 100 times better than me. Even though I have a green thumb out in the garden, I can't coax any herb I bring inside in the fall to sustain life. Mine don't even make it to January/February!

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  7. Well, not to encourage your greenhouse dreams (ha), BUT, my rosemary is currently very happy in the unheated hoop right now! :) Its my first year trying it, and due to the odd winter we're having its hard to be sure if it's just a fluke, but so far so good. So maybe a sunny spot in a cold frame might work?

    Indoors, the best luck I've had is cutting them way back and trying to let them be mostly dormant during the winter. Mostly, they die though!

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  8. Eric? I LOVE that you named your jalapeno plant! That's probably why he lasted so long. I struggle with Rosemary, too. And it is not for lack of love that she lets me down. My longest-living Rosemary plant was from a cutting that was garnish on a colleague's luncheon plate! They throw them away - ack!

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  9. Mama Pea- I'm sure your indoor green thumb will emerge. I do pretty good with most things... except rosemary.
    s- Ooo.... greenhouse.... But I'm sure that a rosemary wouldn't survive a normal winter here in an unheated greenhouse. It would be fine during the day but I'm invisioning those -15 nights would do it in.
    Susan- of course we named him. He was like part of the family... well, kind of. Actually, the children named him. He has lived for several years (even before we moved here) in K11's room over the winters and he has always taken good care of it.
    Judy

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  10. In the fall I haul the rosemary down to the basement where it sits under timered grow lights and sporadically watered until spring. Luckily it's hardy!

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