I hope that last minute shoppers took them home. Topiary lavender, thyme or rosemary are a delight to have. And easy to care for. Forget to water? It's okay. House is cold? Even better. Window sill by a cold, sunny window? Heaven.
The trick to bringing Spring Summer and Fall outdoor topiary into the house is to allow the plants to be touched by that first overnight frost. It sends a signal to the inner-workings of the plant to go dormant. Then, when you bring the plant inside--it doesn't dry up into a fossil. It stays green, fragrant and edible.
You will need some sharp scissors to clip and trim your plants into "standards" meaning a single stem with a rounded top or leave them in the rounded ball shape you see up top. The clippings can be used as herbs in your cooking or the little twigs can have the cut end cleaned off a bit and stuck into some soil in a small clay pot to root into a whole new plant.
Always a clay pot.
Why? you ask. Clay breathes. Plastic doesn't. For plants that require constant moisture--well, they need plastic pots. Not herbs. They prefer the climate of Italy. Sunny, dry and rocky soil.
Oh, not pictured but quite a nice thing to own--Bay Laurel. Yes, bay leaves of your very own. Not in a bottle. It grows a sturdy (woody) standard stem and a leafy top. I have two. One is tall and one got whacked by the Fig Tree falling on it (heavy winds that day) and it is having a little rest period. Deciding if it will live to see another day. Bay Laurel can grow into a short TREE with the proper conditions. And pruning.
Any small $5.99 rosemary or lavender or thyme plant can be grown into a Topiary. All it takes is Time and a small pair of sharp scissors. You can do it!
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