Other than being beautiful and excellent at attracting pollinating insects, rosemary flowers can be used as nice, colorful decorations or even as a flavourful ingredient in the kitchen. I personally like to use them as a nice and colorful garnish or a fun ingredient in salads.
For that reason, many people ask about the best way to pick rosemary flowers, so I wrote this article to explain the best and easiest way I have found to do it.
The best way to pick rosemary flowers is to cut just behind the base of the flower with clean and sharp pruning shears. Alternatively, use two fingers to pinch off the flowers. If you cut the actual stem of the rosemary plant, you can encourage the stem to split into two or more, thereby making the plant more productive overall.
I will explain precisely how to do this in the best and easiest way in this article. I have included a photo where I illustrate precisely where to cut or pinch, depending on whether you want to cut the stem or just pick the flower.
Removing rosemary flowers isn’t always the best idea, so before I explain how to do it, I want to make sure you know about the advantages of NOT doing it.
Before Starting: Consider if You Should Pick the Flowers
Picking rosemary flowers can be tempting, but it isn’t always a good idea to do. There are several advantages to letting the flowers stay on the plant.
The biggest advantage (in my opinion) is that rosemary flowers are excellent at attracting bees and other pollinating insects. These insects help pollinate your plants and benefit your garden as a whole. Not just the rosemary bush itself.
That said, not everybody likes these insects. I recently (at the time of writing this) received an e-mail from a reader who asked for advice since they didn’t want bees around their plant since they had a hummingbird feeder hanging near it and the bees caused problems for the tiny hummingbirds. The solution in such a situation is to try to remove the flowers as soon as they appear.
Another advantage of leaving rosemary flowers on the plant is that you can save a lot of time. Once rosemary starts flowering, things usually happen fast and it can get to the point where it is both challenging and time-consuming to keep up if you want to remove all the flowers.
Picking the flowers (or at least some of them) allows you to use them in cooking or as colorful decorations. This is something I do and enjoy but I always make sure to leave a lot of flowers on my rosemary bushes since I also want bees and other beneficial insects to come and pollinate my plants.
If you’re not sure what to do, I advise you to take a look at another article I wrote where I discuss if removing rosemary flowers is the best thing to do or not depending on your situation.
Now, I will explain the best and easiest way I have found to pick rosemary flowers without harming the plant.
Best Way To Pick Rosemary Flowers Without Harming the Plant
Picking rosemary flowers is not difficult if you know what to do, but if you don’t, you risk damaging the plant which is, of course, something we want to avoid.
The best way to pick rosemary flowers without harming the plant is to cut the stem just behind the flower with clean and sharp pruning shears.
I took this photo and drew some lines to try to illustrate precisely where to cut. I elaborate below.
If all you want is the flower, you can cut at the red line just behind the flower. However, I actually recommend cutting at the blue line, which is the actual stem of the rosemary plant. By cutting here, the stem will split into two or more, resulting in more foliage and thereby more flowers over time.
Cutting the stems like I describe here is essentially what you do when you prune rosemary. If you don’t already prune your rosemary, I highly recommend reading my article about how to prune rosemary and why it is important.
When picking flowers or cutting or pruning plants, it is always best to use clean and sharp pruning shears to reduce the risk of introducing pests and diseases to the plant.
That being said, I have picked rosemary flowers by just pinching the stem between two fingers many many times without any problems. The risk of harming the plant is definitely higher when doing this, so I recommend always using pruning shears, but it is usually fine. You probably can’t do this with older, thicker stems, however, so you should use pruning shears for those.
Now that you know the best way to pick the flowers from your rosemary, I want to share a few fun things you can use them for and some cool ways you can preserve them so you can use them in the future when your rosemary might not be flowering any longer.
3 Fun Things You Can Do with Rosemary Flowers
If you’re reading this article, chances are you already have a reason why you want to pick the flowers from your rosemary, but I figured I would share three things I like to use them for.
- Cooking
- Decorations
- Tea
Cooking is my favorite thing to do with rosemary flowers. It is an easy way to impress guests since it is not something you see very often. The flowers taste similar to the leaves, so they can be used anywhere you would otherwise use rosemary. I find them to be a bit milder tasting than the leaves, though.
I like to use them in salads and as garnish on pretty much anything.
To be honest, I don’t really enjoy using rosemary flowers in tea. I prefer them for cooking. I have used them in tea before, however, and I have had guests who genuinely loved it, so it might be worth trying for you.
Easiest Way To Preserve Rosemary Flowers for Later Use
Preserving rosemary flowers is a great way to extend their use and enjoy their aromatic and flavorful qualities long after the plant has bloomed.
I have had great success with three different methods for preserving rosemary flowers.
Drying
Cut the rosemary flowers as I have explained in this article, bundle them, and hang them upside down in an area with good airflow away from sunlight for 1-2 weeks.
Store dried flowers in an airtight container for later use in soups, stews, and other dishes.
If you only picked the flowers and didn’t cut any stems, it isn’t necessarily possible to hang them this way. In that case, simply place them on a few sheets of kitchen paper and let them dry there for 1-2 weeks.
Freezing
Rinse the flowers, pat them dry, and then transfer them to a freezer-safe container and place them in the freezer. Add the frozen flowers directly to dishes while cooking for some extra flavor.
Infusing oil or vinegar
Wash and dry the fresh flowers, place them in a sterilized jar, cover them with oil or vinegar, and let them sit for 1-2 weeks.
After 1-2 weeks, strain and transfer the infused oil or vinegar to a clean container for use in cooking. I like to use this method for dressings and marinades.
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.