Shady Acres is a cold-hardy rosemary with resinous, needle-like evergreen leaves you can snip for the kitchen all year, and small blue flowers that the bees work when they open. It stays a compact, upright shrub, so it fits the front of a bed or a container without sprawling.

Plant it in full sun, and set it somewhere water runs off fast, because wet feet kill more rosemary here than cold does. Raised beds or a bit of added grit in our Birmingham clay make a real difference. Let the top of the soil dry between waterings.