Dear Rosemary

Our Rosemary plant in the front courtyard has surged in growth, to become a bush.  In many places in Downtown Phoenix and Scottsdale, landscapers have used Rosemary as hedges.  It's quite pleasant.

As I was running out of "eco friendly" chrysanthemum pyrethrine spray, I picked up a can of "green" bug spray at target, whose primary ingredients are Rosemary & Peppermint oils.  I tried it on the Argentinian ants that plague our kitchen and WHOA! Did the house smell like peppermint for a week, from just 2 small sprays next to the dishwasher! Very pungent stuff.

Then, last weekend, as I was pulling out more weeks, trimming the palm trees, bougainvilleas,  & shaping the lavender hedges, I noticed how over-grown and massive the Rosemary bush had become in the front yard, and I used 12 inch Fiskars garden shears to lop off large handfuls of Rosemary.  I put it in the trash dumpster with the rest of the clippings, and my goodness, did it make my garage smell nicely herbal!  As the other clippings decomposed, they provided heat and moisture for the rosemary, which continues to effervesce its fragrance even 4 days later.  (if our yard was bigger, I'd compost, but there really is no place "away" from the house in this tiny lot to build a nice compost heap where the smell and critters would not be unpleasantly close to our home's structure).

In honor of the usefulness of  Rosemary, I've placed this nice Foo Fighter's clip from the inter-webs.   Enjoy.