Rosemary in the UK

[Amoeba]

I read from a few sources that it's not native to the UK but it's grown a lot in gardens.

So, does this mean that it's not found wild? Do feral plants reproduce in this country? If not, what limits their ability to reproduce over here?

Just for curiosity's sake. I realised there's a rosemary bush growing outside seemingly belonging to nobody, one that's been there since I was born but I've never paid much attention to. It's flowering now, but I haven't seen any pollinators near it, so that's why I'm curious if they can reproduce over here or not. (I understand, even if they can be pollinated, they're still kind of sparse for fertilization between individual plants to occur)

[davidbr]

Rosemary (Rosmarina officinalis) isn't native to Britain (it's a Mediterranean plant), but it can certainly survive and self-seed in our conditions - I've seen quite a few growing out of old walls and the like in the Bristol area.

As for whether it's actually established in the wild over here, Alien Plants of the British Isles says it's probably self-sustaining on the Great Orme in North Wales, but I'd imagine it really prefers a warmer climate than ours and most of the self-sown plants that spring up won't go on to establish a population. All it'd take is a couple of cold winters, and they'd be killed off again.

[aeshna5]

Yes a mediterranean plant. Considering how common this plant is in gardens I've only ever found a handful of obviously self-sown plants. There's a couple growing in a south-facing position on a wall by the river in Richmond.

They have survived for some years but are not increasing. They do best with plenty of sun, low nutrients + very good drainage.

[Amoeba]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.