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My Rosemary Story

In tropical Malaysia, I usually steer clear of temperate plants and herbs. Planting them is an exercise in patience as it can be quite trying to get some plants to grow properly.

One of those herbs I love a lot is rosemary. I first bought a potted rosemary plant, about half a foot tall, for a princely sum of RM20 a pot some years ago. At that time, I was still at my old apartment where my balcony did not get direct sunlight. It worried me that my precious rosemary would not survive.

It survived all of 2 years before it started to wilt and die. I blamed it on the lack of sunlight.

Fast forward to 2010. I bought another rosemary plant, this time for RM16 at my local nursery. This time, I had a small plot of garden in the back of our ground floor apartment. It gets direct sun every day and I read that rosemary likes the sun (it is after all from the Mediterranean region).

I piled on the compost (made by yours truly) and it grew happily. However, the rainy season came and with it, came some black bugs which landed on the rosemary too. In the end, I had to trim off the leaves.

It's still growing (thank god) but slowly as the rainy season keeps the soil overly moist. I love running my hands over the spiny leaves and inhaling its fragrance. It refreshes me each time!

But here's something interesting - rosemary is good for strengthening Yang, thanks to Neil's blog. It is also a Qi tonic. No wonder I love inhaling the fragrance of rosemary. (I am tempted to buy the rosemary essential oil the next time I put in my order for essential oils.) At least I can still get my favourite scent should my little plant die on me.

What is your favourite herb? Do you plant it? Or do you get it as an essential oil? I'd love to know!
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Beau Lotus 涟 said…
In or out of the house I've yet to succeed in keeping my rosemary plant (in a pot) alive for a long time and I'm feeling frustrated about that. My MIL has a beautiful plant in France and she said it needs a lot of soil.

I too seem to get some kid of insect on my leaves which would then start to dry out and die. A pity as I love the smell of fresh rosemary leaves too.
5:18 PM
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