Mine grew into hug mounds back in N.O. but in Ms. z8 they grew but not nearly as well. I think they don't care for too much cold. A mild 9 seems perfect. In N.O. I had mine under a sweet gum tree which meant deep shade with late evening sun at best in the summer and f/s in winter. I also had 'em in full sun year round. It didn't matter as all grew well. In Ms. the winter takes mine back to the ground. Mike

Hmmmm, I'm trying to think who that could be. (the nursery) Nice looking plant at any rate. If I may be so bold, your other post on the trees forum about moving 2 20' Parrotia suggests you either have a bit of money to throw at this project or have a friend with a massive tree spade. In either case it's a shame you weren't around a couple summers ago when Dilworth Nursery in Oxford started going out of business. You could have gotten yourself some magnificent conifers for a song. The one that stuck out to my eye was a 15'+ Abies pindrow, bold and glistening in their field...needles so long they look fake. Had to be one of the largest on the east coast as I think they are relatively new to cultivation here. There were other easily spotted rarities like some 'Skylands' spruces. Sadly even though I have great google-fu I only found an auction of their easily moveable assets...it appears a 2 or so acre area of rare conifers was just torn out of the ground and chipped. I hope I'm wrong. If your nursery owner friend is connected feel free to ask him/her if he/she knows what became of their plants. This post was edited by davidrt28 on Sat, Aug 9, 14 at 17:21

Granite....beautiful picture, BTW. How inspired to use fresh herbs in your bouquet, corsages and headdress. There is a lot of folklore that goes along with rosemary, and it was an herb traditionally given on the wedding day for remembrance. Not to be morbid, but also rosemary was buried with the dead so as not to be forgotten by the the living. As far as I know, talking with my neighbor who has the beautiful rosemary bush in-ground, he did nothing special to his plant. When I asked him about the snow (not a lot) we had that past winter, he said he just went out and brushed the snow off the plant. Like it was no big deal. Judging from the look of his plant and it's sturdy wooden, bushy stalks, he's growing the "BBQ" variety. Right now, still, all my rosemary is in containers and doing very well and do have excellent drainage. They are the least watered of all my herbs, and seem to like it that way. I have Miss Jessup, Gorizia, Arp, the "BBQ" type (my oldest) and one I'm not sure of. It's the one you find in grocery stores around the beginning of the growing season....has the shape of a Christmas tree. That type of rosemary turned out to be the most difficult one for me and I will never buy another one of them. They look so beautiful in the store...healthy, tall, lush and green. But they're so root bound. After getting it home and removing it from it's little 8" pot that I knew it wouldn't survive in, I really had to work at the root system to free up the roots. Hard as a rock. I replanted it, and it did well for a short time, but soon started giving me problems. Part of it dying out, other parts yellowing. It always looked like a sick rosemary plant. I thought it never stood a chance. But right now, after last year, it's finally taken hold and it growing beautifully, with new and long healthy resinous shoots everywhere. I couldn't be happier that it ended up surviving. I actually had to, at one point, snip it off at the top, as it was "dead" at it's tip. So needless to say, it no longer has the Christmas tree shape. I have to say, I never expected it to survive but refused to chuck it and just adopted a "wait and see" attitude. I'm glad I did. It's been mentioned here on the GW, and I believe it to be true, that rosemary does thrive on a certain amount of neglect. It just needs to do it's thing. It needs lots of sunlight, and good drainage. The soil NEVER needs to dry out, but (for me, container-wise), when it gets to feeling like it's getting close to being "dry", I will give it water enough to just slightly drip out the bottom, and that's it. And then I leave it alone. And depending on the heat and the rain, it may be a week before I get back to giving it more water. Seems to be the way for my rosemary, as they're all doing wonderfully. And, I do harvest from all of them all the time. I do agree that not all Zone 7's are created equal. Here, snow may or may not come in winter. The ground may never even freeze. It's rare it does, but it does happen. And yes, all rosemary's aren't created equal either. Some are hardier than others. I think they types I have chosen are the best for my zone. But again, the Christmas tree type....never again. They look beautiful in the store, but are the touchiest and hardest to keep alive, IMHO. I would really love to plant all of them outside in-ground, but I have to admit, I love having them indoors during the winter and they seem to love the spot I have chosen for them. And even given the fact that they're all in the biggest pots imaginable, I know they'll never reach their full potential in containers. But that's OK. They provide me with a bounty of rosemary to cook with and even enough (along with my cilantro, thymes, mints and basils) to sell at the Farmer's Market if I wanted. LOL. But I'm happiest when I give them away to neighbors.

Hi Marsha, Welcome to RMG! About the soil in the Metro Denver area, there are a few members who have a sandier soil, but almost all of us have nasty clay--and I suspect what you're calling clay back east is a joy compared to the Rocky Mountain Clay! You're right--you just keep adding organic matter year after year after year.... I DOES get better--eventually! And if you pick the "right" plants, you CAN grow things in it! Some of our members build raised beds and fill them with "store bought" soil to give them better soil quickly. Lots of advice around here for raised beds if you decide to go that route. And lots of sympathy for your soil problems if you don't! ;-) I'm going to link two threads from when others were moving out here and asking for advice. I think you'll find pretty much all your questions answered between the two threads--and probably a lot of info about stuff you haven't even thought about yet! The first is a 2014 thread from somebody who was moving here from the UK! http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2131647/an-intro-and-questions?n=9 The second is an old thread from 2006 from somebody moving here from New York and, in addition to other info, is talking about drought! The good news is that virtually ALL of Colorado is now officially out of drought conditions, though it's still always a good idea to try to get some sort of an idea about what watering restrictions could be imposed in the future for any property you're looking at--maybe ask about what restrictions were in place when we were still in drought. The first thread has more info about xeric plants than this one--this one has more "general" info about living out here. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2139011/gardening-around-denver-drought-question?n=10 I know there was another thread from someone asking about the different areas to live in the Metro area, but I sure can't find it! There's some info in the above threads about the different areas, and if you have questions about a specific area, just come ask. About the views, you can get good views pretty much anywhere in the Metro area, it just depends on the individual lot. The "olde" Denver areas generally have lots of established trees and you'd be less likely to have a view. If you're hoping for something on a greenbelt you'll need to look at the newer subdivisions since that's a relatively new concept. I'm on the north end (Thornton) and there's a lot of new subdivisions north and west of me where I'm sure there are views, and there are neighborhoods just east of me (120th & Colorado Blvd.) that have greenbelts running all thru them. (I used to live down on the south end just north of Parker and had a view from Pike's Peak almost the whole way up to Long's Peak. Oh, how I miss that view!) When you come out I recommend you start with a drive from one end of the city to the other--just to get the Big Picture about what the different areas are like. Also want to let you know that we have two plant swaps out here each year. Where they are is determined by who volunteers to host them--they've been held everywhere from the extreme south end to the extreme north end of the Denver Metro area! It's a fun time getting together with Gardening Folks, and is a good opportunity to pick up some free plants--even if you don't have anything to bring yet! When you get moved out here just keep an eye out for the swap threads! We'd all love to meet you! Welcome to the Friendliest Little Gardening Forum in the West, Skybird