Christmas Rosemary Revives Old Holiday Custom

Some traditions are worth reviving. The old European custom of using rosemary at Christmas is one. With its long religious tradition and as a symbol of fidelity and remembrance, rosemary is the perfect plant with which to express the significance of the winter holiday season.

Rosemary was used at Christmas as early as the 16th century, giving it a much stronger claim on the holiday season than the current commercial favorite, the poinsettia; and it�s more practical. Have you ever heard of seasoning the Christmas goose with poinsettia leaves?

Rosemary�s immediate modern attraction is its rich piney fragrance and evergreen resemblance to a small Christmas tree. It can be used on table tops and decorated, or it can serve as the focal point on a centerpiece; large plants can stand alone and twinkle with lights. Rosemary plants are unsurpassed as gifts or tokens of appreciation; the sentiment remains a permanent expression because the plants are easy to grow.

The English poet, Robert Herrick, who lived between 1591 and 1674 celebrated the holiday use of rosemary in this verse:

Down with the rosemary and so, Down with the baies and mistletoe, Down with the holly, ivie all Wherewith ye deck the Christmas hall.

Sir Thomas More, the English statesman and writer who lived between 1478 and 1535, outlined the spirit behind rosemary�s presence in the holiday tradition this way: As for Rosmarine, I lett it runne all over my garden walls, not onlie because my bees love it, but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance, and, therefore, to friendship.

Rosemary�s religious legend is tied to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. A rosemary bush is said to have given her shelter during the flight to Egypt. Another story credits the plant�s blue flowers to Mary�s act of laying her freshly washed blue cloak over a rosemary shrub to dry.

Even the name of the plant is sometimes attributed to Mary, however, most herbalists agree that a more likely derivation is that the name originally came from Ros marinus, Latin meaning dew of the sea, a reference to the way rosemary plants clung to their native cliffs along the Mediterranean.

Together with an orange stuck with cloves, rosemary has been a traditional New Year's gift for centuries, according to the modern English herbalist, Maude Grieve. "It holds a special position among herbs from the symbolism attached to it," she wrote in her two volume classic, A Modern Herbal. "Not only was it used at weddings, but also at funerals, for decking churches and banqueting halls at festivals, as incense in religious ceremonies and in magical spells."

Ancient herbalists believed ashes of rosemary wood made a good dentifrice, a cavity fighting Crest of the 17th Century. The same herbalists also hung to the notion that inhaling rosemary�s strong scent imparted eternal youth.

Today, aside from the ornamental and symbolic uses made of the plant, rosemary is one of the most important culinary herbs. Its narrow, pungent leaves, either fresh or dried, add zesty flavor to dishes of beans, peas, potatoes, rice, spinach, tomatoes, and squash. It reaches the pinnacle of its usefulness in the kitchen to flavor dishes of beef, chicken, duck, fish, lamb, soup, partridge, pork, rabbit, and shellfish. It can also be found as a gourmet novelty to flavor bread, cheeses, jams, jellies, vinegar, olives, and wine. Extracts of rosemary used as a food preservative have gained wide acceptance in Europe and have begun to be used in the U.S.

Thomas DeBaggio
(1942-2011)

We are no longer growing any plants. Listings are for information only. Last seed source listed after some of the plants is the company from which I last purchased the seeds. I make no guarantee that a variety is still available from that company or that there aren't other sources. Plants with no source either were not grown from seed (most likely) or the seed is not commercially available.