Salvia rosmarinus 'Prostratus’

Our own garden is filled with topiary rosemary. Aromatic, water-wise and easy to grow, it cascades beautifully over walls, creeps through gravel gardens and its leaves are indispensable in the kitchen.

Prostrate rosemary is a low-growing trailing form of the common Mediterranean herb, producing pale blue flowers along the stems in late winter and spring — typically February to May — with a smaller autumn flush. The narrow needle-like aromatic evergreen leaves release the classic rosemary scent when brushed. The plant flowers heavily during the cool Mediterranean half of the year and can repeat-bloom in autumn after summer's rest. Hardy to -8°C, exceptionally drought-tolerant, salt-tolerant and undemanding in poor stony alkaline soils, it provides culinary herbs year-round and is particularly valued for its cascading habit.

Prostrate rosemary grows only 30–50 cm tall but spreads 1–2 m wide, ideal for cascading over retaining walls, raised planters and terracotta pot edges; as a long-flowering ground cover on dry slopes and sunny banks; and trailing from the tops of low stone walls along property boundaries. The grey-green foliage and pale blue flowers combine beautifully with the silver of Stachys byzantina, Convolvulus cneorum and Helichrysum italicum; with the magenta of Cistus and Bougainvillea; and with the yellow of Bulbine frutescens. Excellent in large containers on terraces where the cascading foliage softens hard edges. Light pruning in late spring after flowering maintains shape; never cut into bare old wood.