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Products > Rosmarinus officinalis 'Ed Carman'
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| Category: Shrub |
| Family: Lamiaceae (Labiatae) (Mints) |
| Origin: Mediterranean (Europe) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Lavender Blue |
| Bloomtime: Winter/Spring |
| Fragrant Flowers: Yes |
| Synonyms: [Salvia rosmarinus] |
| Height: 4-6 feet |
| Width: 4-5 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Seaside: Yes |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Deer Tolerant: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 15-20° F |
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Rosmarinus officinalis 'Ed Carman' (Carman's Tuscany Rosemary) – A large upright Rosemary to 6 feet tall with mostly erect and slightly arching stems bearing large broad leaves (for a rosemary), that are up to an inch and 1/4 long by 3/16 of inch wide, that stick out perpendicular to the thick stems. In fall through spring with scatted flowering at other time appear the pale violet-blue flowers. Plant in full sun and irrigate occasionally to infrequently. As with other Rosemary it is resistant to deer and rabbit predation, tolerant to salt spray, alkaline soils and drought. Hardy to 15°F. This plant is a bit of a mystery. We received this plant in the 1980s from legendary nurseryman Ed Carman, who operated Carman's Nursery (started by his father Hugh in 1937) from 1945 until his death in 2002. Ed had a hedge of this rosemary growing in front of his Los Gatos, California nursery and he maintained that it was the "true" 'Tuscan Blue' rosemary and that what other nurseries were growing under this name was actually a cultivar called 'Blue Spires' and he might be right! Unfortunately the finer textured plant now grown in the trade as 'Tuscan Blue' is so universal that it would be nearly impossible to correct this situation and so we instead call this plant 'Ed Carman' The name for the genus comes from the Latin name for this aromatic shrub which is derived from the words sea dew. The specific epithet is the Latin word that signifies a plant sold as a medicinal herb. Recent DNA analysis now shows the genus Rosmarinus to be fit squarely into the massive Salvia genus, which already has about 1,000 species. Since the specific epithet "officinalis" is already used in the genus Salvia, the new name for our common rosemary is now officially Salvia rosmarinus. Joining Rosmarinus in this move to Salvia is Perovskia and the little know genera Dorystaechas, Meriandra and Zhumeria. This change was published in an article by University of Nebraska biologist Bryan T. Drew, Jesús González-Gallegos, Chun-Lei Xiang, Ricardo Kriebel, Chloe Drummond, Jay Walker and Kenneth Sytsma titled "Salvia united: The greatest good for the greatest number" in the February 2017 issue of Taxon 66(1):133-145. For the sake of our customers and ourselves, we continue to list the Rosemary in the genus Rosmarinus!
This information about Rosmarinus officinalis 'Ed Carman' displayed is based on research conducted in our library and from reliable online resources. We will also note observations that we have made about it as it grows in the gardens in our nursery and those elsewhere, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others, and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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