Rosmarinus officinalis Corsican Blue

Rosmarinus officinalis 'Corsican Blue' is a particularly ornamental variety of rosemary with its wide dome shape and impressive flowering of a rather fantastic blue colour. It is a vigorous, floriferous plant, but moderately hardy. Decorative for much of the year, this evergreen shrub blooms in late winter or early spring, depending on the year and climate, and again in late summer. Its nectar-rich flowers are intensely visited by pollinating insects. From its Mediterranean origins, rosemary has retained a certain preference for sunlight, heat, summer drought, and relatively mild winters. Offer it a dry slope or a rock garden, where it will express all its beauty!

The 'Corsican Blue' Rosemary was selected in Corsica for its attractiveness. The species, in Latin Rosmarinus officinalis, is a small shrub native to the Mediterranean basin. It belongs to the Lamiaceae family, which includes numerous medicinal and aromatic plants. Depending on the region and its natural environment, it has locally differentiated itself into ecotypes, showing quite varied characteristics of hardiness, habit, and flowering.

'Corsican Blue' forms a wide dome shape in a few years, often with a slightly tangled habit, reaching up to 55cm (22in) in height and 1.2m (4ft) in spread, depending on the growing conditions. Its growth is much faster in rich and moist soil, but in these conditions, its lifespan will be shorter, and its habit less dense. Its branches are initially upright, then they bend horizontally before drooping or sometimes standing up again. When they touch the ground, these branches easily root through natural layering. Under the Mediterranean climate, flowering is induced by the return of rain after a period of severe drought. 'Corsican Blue' bears relatively large flowers for a rosemary. They are gathered in clusters similar to spikes along the juvenile branches. Their colour is a vivid purplish blue, speckled with mauve and widely marked with white. The evergreen foliage is composed of small green leaves, narrow, with a cottony and whitish underside. They are also slightly rolled up, giving them a linear appearance. This characteristic is an adaptation to drought. The 'Corsican Blue' variety will withstand well-drained soil down to -10°C (14°F).

Green all year round, perfuming the air and the kitchen, rosemary and its variants are interesting for quickly establishing the setting in a dry garden, a rock garden, or simply an arid area where the soil lacks depth. They constitute the basis of a garden in the Mediterranean zone, but also in certain regions of the Atlantic coast where very sandy soil does not retain moisture. The 'Corsican Blue' variety can be highlighted in a rock garden, above a wall, or on a slope. It can be combined with other small shrubs that thrive in dry soil: coronillas, rockroses, large Meerlo lavenders, dry-soil shrubby salvias... It is an excellent source of nectar for bees, at a time of year when flowers are quite scarce. The roots of rosemary secrete substances that inhibit the germination and growth of other plants: in an unwatered rosemary bed, there is no need for weeding!