I had great success germinating rosemary in a cactus soil mix. Quick drainage seems to be the key. Check out the "herbs" forum in this Seed Starting cubit for more discussion on Rosemary from seed

that is an awesome tip

I've got some cactus mix and I just bought some rosemary seeds to start ... I'm going to give it a try. I've used the cactus mix the last two years to start my peppers in ... they seem to like it too.

Thanks for the tip.