Different Rosemary Plants

Gold Dust

• Gold Dust rosemary features brightly-colored greenish gold variegation -- the gold margins of its green leaves sometimes give the plant a chartreuse color while sunlight makes it appear more golden yellow. This hardy, heat-tolerant plant grows quickly up to heights of about 3 feet, with its leaves forming upward and outward. Gold Dust plants look great in the garden as an evergreen ornamental. As part of the officinalis species, Gold Dust rosemary lends itself to all sorts of cooking.

Tuscan Blue

• Tuscan Blue rosemary fits the bill for gardeners seeking a larger variety of the plant, as this shrub reaches sizes of up to 7 feet tall and 2 feet wide in maturity. While most Tuscan Blue rosemary plants grow tall and upright, others occur as spreading plants. Tuscan Blue rosemary gets its name from the blue flowers it sprouts during the winter season, which provide food for bees when other flowers die of the cold. Tuscan Blue rosemary requires very little water and thrives in full sunlight.

Arp

• The Smith County town of Arp, Texas, lends its name to a particularly tough variety of rosemary. Arp rosemary has been known to survive winters with temperatures reaching as low as 32 degrees Fahrenheit. This upright-growing herb sports gray-green leaves that grow in needle-like form. In maturity, it develops woody limbs. A slow grower, Arp rosemary eventually reaches heights up to 4 feet and widths of up to 2 feet. Though it prefers full sun, Arp rosemary tolerates partial shade.

Ken Taylor

• Water-sipping Ken Taylor rosemary comes in the form of a decorative mid-sized shrub, growing about 1 to 3 feet tall. Because it spreads easily, it makes for a nice landscaping border. In the spring and summer seasons, blue flowers accent the plant's dark green needle-like leaves. Like Tuscan Blue, this variety of rosemary does attract bees. Ken Taylor rosemary prefers full sun and flourishes at a moderate growth rate in soil types ranging from sandy to clay to loam.