Rosemary is Sage

This year I managed to bring my Rosemary plant in before it succumbed to the elements and it is now thriving.   When I’m feeling the need for the fresh smell of plants, Rosemary is there and just brushing my hand across the leaves produces that wonderful fragrance. 
 
This summer the entire nursery pot was put into the container with other herbs.  When it came time to bring it inside, I just popped the pot out and brought it in.  Rosemary doesn’t like its roots disturbed.  By keeping it in the same pot on the move from outside to inside, those roots remained happy.  I also cut back the tops by one-third before bringing it inside.  Now it is adding new growth.  

​I was bummed to read a recent article in The Telegraph – a British newspaper – that reported the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has ruled that Rosemary is now a Sage.  To get a bit garden geeky: “it will now be known as Salvia Rosmarinus, rather than Rosmarinus officinalis, but its common name – rosemary – remains unchanged.” It’s been known as Rosmarinus officinalis since 1753.  It isn’t unusual for plants to be moved from one genus (family) to another.  But I can’t imagine some horticulturist sitting around thinking about whether a Rosemary is really a Sage.  And then what kind of process there might be to convince others.  Seems a lot of trouble for not much gain. 
 
Sage just doesn’t have the same cachet as Rosemary.   While Rosemary is a symbol of love, happiness and loyalty; Sage is a symbol of wisdom and immortality.  Rosemary is often put into bridal bouquets; Sage was used in medieval times to cover up the smell of rancid meat!  According to Rosemary Gladstar in her Beginner’s Guide of Medicinal Herbs: “There’s an old adage that where rosemary thrives in the garden, the woman rules the house, but where sage thrives, the man rules.”  Two very different plants I say.
 
But then they do have much in common:  both are considered perennial herbs having medicinal properties, both are used in cooking, the aromatic properties of both are useful in sachets.  The RHS may be on to something in putting them both into the same plant family.  The Society made the change because it was thought the difference in the stamens wasn’t enough to view rosemary and sage as separate plant types.
 
Anyway, be forewarned that when you go looking for Rosemary sometime in the future at your local nursery it may be labeled “Sage”.  Luckily as the alphabet goes – there is not much distance between these two.