One of the most common questions I have been asked and seen asked online about flowering rosemary is whether you can harvest and use it or not.
The answer is yes, you can harvest and use flowering rosemary but before you do, there are a handful of things you should know about.
In this article, I share seven important things to know about before you do it. Let’s get into it.
You CAN Eat Flowering Rosemary (Including the Flowers)
Whether or not you can eat rosemary when it is flowering as well as the flowers is one of the questions I have been asked and seen people ask online the most. That’s why I wanted to cover it first in this article.
The answer is yes. You can eat both the green foliage and the flowers from a flowering rosemary bush.
The flavor might be slightly different than what you are used to. Herbs tend to have a slight change in flavor when they are flowering since the energy is utilized differently and the production of oils is different than normal. In fact, the highest quality essential oil from rosemary comes from the flowering tops of the plant according to New Directions Aromatics.
That said, the flavor difference in rosemary is minimal compared to many other herbs. I personally don’t notice it much and certainly don’t mind it. I harvest from my rosemary regardless if it is flowering or not.
If you want to harvest the flowers, wait until they are fully open. That is when the concentration of the oils peaks. Carefully harvest them without damaging the plant. I have another article where I explain the best way to remove rosemary flowers.
Flowering Rosemary Grows Back Slower Than Normally
When rosemary is flowering, most of its energy is diverted towards the production of flowers and seeds. This means that less energy is available for the growth of new and existing foliage.
So while it is perfectly fine to harvest some rosemary from your plant when it is flowering, I highly recommend waiting until after it finishes flowering if you want to harvest a lot at the same time.
If you decide to wait until the plant finishes flowering before harvesting, you might as well do it as part of the annual pruning. That way, you get all the benefits the flowers bring (such as attracting pollinating insects) and you still get to harvest a lot. If this sounds good, I recommend reading my full guide on how to prune rosemary.
Remember that even though rosemary regrows slower when it is flowering, it is perfectly fine to harvest some of it.
The Risk of Harvesting Flowering Rosemary Is Greater
Since rosemary grows slower when it is flowering, it also takes longer for it to recover from damage than when it isn’t flowering.
This means that there is a slightly higher risk of damaging the plant when it is flowering but if you use clean and sharp pruning shears, the risk is still low.
There is also a risk of pests and diseases being introduced to the plant. This risk is always present, however, more so when you cut stems during the flowering period since it takes longer to regrow.
Do Not Harvest More Than One-Third of the Plant
It can be tempting to harvest a lot of rosemary at the same time, but you should never take more than one-third of the plant at the same time. This is especially important when the plant is flowering since it regrows slower than otherwise and overharvesting can stress the plant.
My recommendation is to cut significantly less than a third when you harvest flowering rosemary. I still harvest from my rosemary plants when they flower, although I try to only cut tips and only what I actually need at the time.
Rosemary can usually recover quickly but not quite as quickly when it is using most of its energy on flowering.
Flowering Rosemary Is Excellent at Attracting Pollinators
Perhaps the biggest advantage of letting your rosemary flower is that the flowers are excellent at attracting bees and other pollinating insects. These insects pollinate your different garden plants, enabling them to produce fruit and seeds, thereby making your garden more productive as a whole.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t harvest and use any of your rosemary when it is flowering. It just means that you might want to consider which parts of the plant you harvest. I recommend trying to leave as many flowers on the plant as possible.
While pollinators are excellent for your garden, it is not the only benefit of letting your rosemary flower, and believe it or not, but there are actually also disadvantages. For some people, it fits better to remove the flowers entirely, but that is a topic for another article. Fortunately, I also wrote about that, so check it out if you want to learn about the advantages of letting your rosemary flower versus stopping it.
Consider the Aesthetic Aspect
As I have already covered extensively in this article, rosemary grows significantly slower when it is flowering than when it isn’t.
Because of that, you should consider how you cut it when you harvest flowering rosemary since you might have to look at it for a while afterward.
Sure, it may not be the most important thing because your plant will likely be just fine but if you, like me, enjoy an aesthetically pleasing garden, you should consider where and how much you cut when you harvest.
If you want to harvest a lot at the same time, consider waiting until after the plant finishes flowering as it will recover faster. If you only need a bit, this matters less.
It Is Perfectly Fine to Harvest Flowering Rosemary
With everything I have covered in this article, it might seem like you should wait until after your rosemary finishes flowering before you harvest from it.
While it is true that your rosemary will recover and regrow faster if you wait, I want to clarify that it doesn’t matter THAT much. Especially if you only want a bit but again, if you want a lot, I recommend waiting.
I never hold back if I only need a bit of fresh rosemary. I take it regardless if my plant is flowering or not.
At the end of the day, the reason why most of us enjoy growing our own herbs and vegetables is that we get to harvest and eat them. So my recommendation is to just go for it.
If you aren’t sure what to do about your flowering rosemary or just want to learn more, I recommend heading over to my article about what to do when rosemary is flowering where I cover everything you should know about the topic.