Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to grow and part of the reason is the flowers. Rosemary produces small, beautiful purple flowers, which can be used for cooking or left on the plant to attract bees and other pollinators which benefits your garden as a whole.
Rosemary doesn’t flower all the time, however, so I wrote this article about how often it happens, so you can know what to expect. I also write about what time of the year it happens, how long the flowering process lasts, and cover some tips you can use to promote flowering in rosemary.
Rosemary usually flowers once per year, however, certain climate conditions and growing conditions combined with the right pruning technique can be applied to encourage a second flowering within the same year.
Rosemary usually flowers in the spring and summer, although it varies depending on where the plant is growing and what growing conditions it has. I get more into this later in the article but first, I want to cover some tricks I have personally used to encourage a second flowering in my rosemary.
6 Tips To Encourage Rosemary to Flower Twice per Year
As I have already mentioned in this article, rosemary typically flowers once per year. However, it is sometimes possible to encourage a second flowering within the same year.
Here are six tips you can use to increase the chances of a second flowering and to boost the intensity of the flowering.
- Prune the plant every year and harvest frequently
- Let your plant get at least 8 hours of sunlight per day
- Stop using nitrogen-rich fertilizers
- Use well-draining, sandy soil with little organic matter
- Water every 1-2 weeks (unless it rains)
- Allow the plant to become slightly root bound
Climate conditions and growing conditions are, of course, important, but the one thing that you have the most control over and that you can do to encourage a second annual flowering in rosemary is pruning.
A well-timed pruning can be used to not only encourage new growth but also flowering. If you are interested in this, I recommend reading another article I wrote specifically about when and how to prune rosemary.
If you want to learn more about how to boost flowering in rosemary in general, check out another one of my articles where I elaborate on the six tips for promoting flowering in rosemary from above.
What Time of the Year Does Rosemary Flower?
Rosemary usually flowers in spring and summer, although the specific time depends on local climate conditions and growing conditions such as how much sunlight the plant receives, soil type, watering, and more.
I have made this table to give you a quick overview of the flowering times of rosemary across the globe.
| Region | Flowering time |
| California and the Southern United States | Early to mid spring |
| The rest of the United States | Late spring or early summer |
| Central and Northern Europe | Late spring or early summer |
| Southern Europe and Northern Africa | Early to mid-spring |
| Central and Southern Africa and Asia | Late spring or early summer |
| Oceania | Late spring or early summer |
Rosemary flowers can be used in cooking (which is nice), but the primary reason why I find it important to know when it happens is that rosemary flowers are excellent at attracting pollinating insects to your garden. This benefits not only your rosemary but your garden as a whole. Specifically, because these pollinating insects spread your plants’ pollen, thereby enabling them to produce fruit.
If you are interested in learning more about what time of the year rosemary is flowering, head over to another article I wrote specifically about the flowering times of rosemary across the globe.
For How Long Does Rosemary Flower?
Flowering is an ongoing process that lasts for a while. Most people can expect their rosemary to flower for a few months in a row during spring and summer.
That being said, the duration of the flowering period is largely affected by local climate and growing conditions such as the temperature, the length of the day, how much sunlight the plant receives, and more, so it is impossible to give a precise answer.
While it is impossible to say precisely for how long YOUR specific rosemary will flower, I can give you some good guidelines to help you know what to expect. If this sounds relevant to you, check out my article about the duration of flowering in rosemary around the world.
Learn More About Flowering in Rosemary
I find the flowering process in rosemary fascinating for several reasons. If it is also something that interests you or just something you want to know more about, I have written the perfect article for you.
My complete guide to rosemary flowering covers absolutely everything you should know about the topic including what to do when your rosemary is flowering, why it happens, what happens to the plant when it is flowering, how to solve flowering-related problems, and a lot more.