Creeping Rosemary - Rosmarinus officinalis Prostratus

Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus' is a variety of rosemary with a prostrate and creeping habit, ideal for beautifully covering the ground of a dry rockery or cascading down a stone wall. With its evergreen foliage and dense vegetation, it discourages weeds. In spring, it is covered with small flowers of a soft lavender blue, attracting pollinators. It often blooms again in late summer and autumn in mild and dry climates. From its Mediterranean origins, it has retained a certain affinity for heat, summer drought, and relatively mild winters. Finally, unlike upright varieties, it ages well, regenerating spontaneously through layering. Give it a dry slope or the rocky soil of a plateau, and it will express all its vigour!

Rosmarinus officinalis is a small shrub native to the Mediterranean basin belonging to the family of Lamiaceae, which includes many medicinal and aromatic plants. In addition to its numerous culinary and therapeutic properties, this plant has long been believed to purify the air and ward off evil spirits. Around the Mediterranean, it was burned like incense. Depending on the regions and its natural environment, it can show quite varied characteristics of hardiness, habit, and flowering.

'Prostratus', as its name suggests, has a horizontal growth. This undershrub, reaching 10 cm to 30 cm (3.9 cm to 11.8 in) in height depending on the growing conditions (it will be more prostrate if exposed to strong and repeated winds), spreads from 1.25 m to 150 m (4.1 ft to 492.1 ft). Its growth is quite slow in poor and dry soil. It grows much faster in rich and cooler soil, but its lifespan will be shorter, and its habit less dense. 'Prostratus' bears very small flowers that are gathered in clusters resembling spikes along the young branches. The evergreen foliage consists of small, shiny, narrow, cottony and whitish green leaves. They have the peculiarity of being rolled up on themselves, giving them a linear appearance. This characteristic is an adaptation to drought. The 'Prostratus' variety is slightly less hardy than common rosemary, but if planted in very well-drained soil it will withstand temperatures down to -10° C to -12° C (14° F to 10.4° F). 

Compact, dense, bushy, and blooming for a long period, perfuming the air and the kitchen, rosemary is the perfect choice for a dry garden, a rockery, or simply an arid area where the soil lacks thickness. It can be planted alongside other ground-cover plants such as Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chips', Callirhoe involucrata, Malvastrum lateritium, or Teucrium chamaedrys. It can also be planted in front of a low shrub border composed of lavender, groundcover roses like The Fairy, cistus, ballota, creeping ceanothus, and shrubby potentillas. Planted above a wall, this prostrate plant will become spectacular, transformed into a large tapestry cascading over 1 m (3.3 ft). It is an excellent source of nectar for bees at a time of year when flowers are still scarce.