Forums » Herb Patch

• Blackthorn

  
   

  March 1, 2009 7:22:17 AM PST

  I'm in zone 6, and while chives, sage and (possibly) thyme and oregano (we'll see) can survive in my garden, I've had no luck keeping rosemary over the winter.

   

  I've tried growing rosemary in a pot and bringing it indoors in the cold months.  I'm not the best about container plants.  I know I've killed off at least three different rosemary plants in three separate years.  It seems I either overwater it or under water it.  Someone told me recently though that rosemary really needs to have water misted directly on the leaves to survive.  Maybe I'll give this a go.

   

  Anyone else have tips for keeping a rosemary plant alive over a cold winter?

   

  Or, barring that, can anyone recommend a truly palatable culinary rosemary that can survive a zone 6 winter?  The reports I've heard on rosemary that tolerates such temperatures say that it's not all that tasty.

   

  Finally, I have good culinary sage plants that survive winter just fine in zone 6, but their leaves turn tough and blanch out just at the time of year I'm most likely to want to use them for stews and on focaccia.  I don't have a greenhouse, and by their second year, the plants are too big to fit under the low row covers I do have.  Even then, I doubt that the row cover would prevent them from going into their dormant state for very long.  Any tips on this situation?

   

  I would really like to use fresh herbs over the winter months without buying them.

   

  Thanks for any suggestions!

• mecar

  
   

  March 1, 2009 4:06:45 PM PST

  I've actually had good luck overwintering rosemary indoors in Zone 5. I grow it in a large terra cotta container, and water it only when the soil is dry. It's in an east-facing window. I don't mist it. I kept one rosemary plant alive for about 5 years that way (it got _huge_!). Then one winter it suddenly died. Don't know why. Now I have a second rosemary going through its first winter, and it seems to be doing fine.
• Johnny4Jute

  
   

  March 1, 2009 4:16:57 PM PST

  Same for me. I finally remembered to bring my rosemary plants in this winter. I dug them out and potted them. I only gave them water about once a week, and they are doing fine. Some branches have died off, which I'll prune once I put the plants back out. They've actually grown a little bit too. I am in zone 6 as well, and all of my chives, thyme, and oregano come back just fine every year.
• Bull100

  

  • 57 posts
   

  December 25, 2011 10:37:37 AM PST

  We don't grow herbs in out garden cold frame through the winter but do grow lettuce and spinach in our cold frame all winter long. I don't see why everyone shouldn't be growing spinach and lettuce all winter in a cold frame. They can be use for so many things