Nunya Bidnits wrote:

<snip>
> I forgot to mention earlier, but rosemary also yields some nice woody stalks
> if it gets mature enough. I can now get rosemary varieties that are hardy
> here for several seasons before some really severe freeze kills them off.
> They give up some great woody stalks which also make some tasty smoke.
>
Huh. Never thought of that. I've used the woody stalks as kabob
sticks, though.

My oldest rosemary plant made it through 5 winters. The sixth winter I
got all conscientious and raked away all the dead leaves and spent
foliage in the side garden and the poor thing croaked, probably due to
lack of insulation.