There are many reasons why it is good to know approximately when your rosemary will flower, but since rosemary behaves differently in different parts of the world, the answer depends on several factors, primarily where in the world the plant is.
I wrote this article to help you find out when you can expect YOUR specific rosemary to flower.
Here is a table to give you a quick overview of when rosemary starts flowering. I go into more detail about specific regions below.
| 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 |
Keep in mind that these are large regions and the specific flowering times depend on several factors, so the listed flowering times are estimates. I go into more detail about rosemary’s flowering time around the world throughout the rest of this article.
What Time of the Year Does Rosemary Flower?
In this part of the article, I get more specific about when rosemary flowers in different parts of the world.
Rosemary typically flowers in spring or summer (or both) in most parts of the world, although it can flower throughout the whole year in some tropical and subtropical regions with the right conditions and high exposure to sunlight.
North America and Europe
Most of my readers come from North America and Central and Northern Europe, so I will begin with that.
Rosemary typically flowers in North America and most of Europe during late spring to early summer, typically from May to June. This timing can vary slightly based on the specific geographic location and local climate conditions. Growing conditions such as soil type, watering, and nutrients also affect the timing of flowering.
The flowering process begins when the days lengthen and temperatures rise. This triggers the plant’s transition from vegetative growth (where it focuses on growing the green foliage) to flowering (which is when seeds are produced). If you want to learn more about this, you should read another article I wrote about what happens when rosemary is flowering.
Sunlight and temperature are the two factors that affect flowering the most, which means that rosemary will start flowering earlier and end later in areas such as California, the southern United States, and southern Europe.
The Mediterranean region
Rosemary is native to the Mediterranean region, so this is generally where it has optimal conditions and thrives the best.
Rosemary typically flowers in early spring in the Mediterranean region.
I have visited different parts of the Mediterranean region several times at different times of the year, and I have seen rosemary fully flowering as early as early March. The photo earlier in this article is actually from southern Spain in March a few years ago at the time I write this.
The exact flowering time can vary based on specific local climate conditions and other environmental factors.
The warmest and sunniest tropical and subtropical regions
Rosemary tends to flower throughout the whole year in the warmest and sunniest tropical and subtropical regions as a result of the favorable growing conditions.
The absence of distinct seasons in some of these areas allows the herb to produce its beautiful blue to purple flowers all year round.
Even in tropical and subtropical regions without ideal growing conditions where rosemary doesn’t flower all year, it is likely to flower throughout most of the year, typically starting in very early spring.
Oceania
Rosemary generally flowers in Oceania during the warmer months, typically from late spring through early summer. The exact timing can vary based on specific local climate conditions and geographical locations.
For How Long Does Rosemary Flower?
The flowering period for a single rosemary plant is generally a couple of months, with the peak bloom occurring during the favorable season, which is generally mid-summer.
The exception to this is, of course, tropical and subtropical regions as I have covered in this article. In these regions, rosemary can flower throughout the whole year or at least most of the year.
How long rosemary flowers depends on the climate conditions where it grows and growing conditions such as the amount of sunlight, temperature, watering, and soil type.
If you want to learn more about this, I have another article where I go into much more detail about the length of the flowering period for rosemary.
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.