"It's dead, Jim"

[Jenise]

My entire herb garden. Gone. Black. Ruined. The thyme, the rosemary, everything. Tough winter.

Oh Jenise...does it usually last the winter? Here in the Northeast, everything outside dies during the winter. I did get one of those indoor herb gardens (Aerogarden) for Christmas and I have a bunch of herbs growing great in there.

For the future, Lowe's and Home Depot carry fabric called frost covers or row covers...saved all my lettuce, arugula and lemon tree. The Swiss chard, kales love the 20's and low 30's we are still having in the mornings.

Our thyme, sage, oregano, and tarragon are under a three foot pile of snow, so we will see. We did bring in a pot of basil, and two rosemary plants, and they are doing well so far.

Yes it can be replanted and it's a good time of year to start from seed indoors, but it's still a huge shame. Ours is looking pretty bare, but I'm confident there aren't too many unexpected casualties. Bits of green peeking out on a few.

I haven't planted any Rosemary, as there's a fine rosemary plant in a shared green area that we've tended to look after. I better check how it is though.

Looking ahead, are there any that you won't replace, or any new herbs that now have a potential corner of the herb garden?

regards

Ian

I can tell if it's a bad winter if I lose my rosemary. In the past has lasted 3 or 4 years and threatened to turn into a tree. Then the frost kills it the next winter. This year, so far, the rosemary and sage seem to be in pretty good shape. It's true that a snowy cold is less likely to kill everything than a dry cold...

F

I can tell if it's a bad winter if I lose my rosemary. In the past has lasted 3 or 4 years and threatened to turn into a tree. Then the frost kills it the next winter. This year, so far, the rosemary and sage seem to be in pretty good shape. It's true that a snowy cold is less likely to kill everything than a dry cold...

F

Frank is right. A generous snow cover can insulate many plants/herbs. Unfortunately, we've had a very frigid winter in Central Indiana with virtually no snow cover, so I'm not optimistic about our survival rate...I'd go check on the plant status but it is too damn cold outside. Although, I've been surprised before. That said, a rosemary cutting in the basement seems quite happy.

Bill

My entire herb garden. Gone. Black. Ruined. The thyme, the rosemary, everything. Tough winter.

Jenise, how cold has it gotten there this winter? Thyme is usually pretty winter hardy, at least it is here in Kentucky where we always get some nights in the single digits, and even below zero some years. I have had thyme survive for as much as 5 years and my tarragon must be 10 years old. Sage is another herb that usually makes it through several years. OTOH, basil, rosemary, and oregano seldom make it all winter here. Of course the chives will not only survive, but thrive. The chives and tarragon are two that not only survive but multiply, threatening to take over the garden space.

[David M. Bueker]

But Jenise, this frees you to plant hybrid varieties more suited to the harsh climate, rather than succumbing to the fickle whims of the marketplace and its desire for commercially acceptable, traditional herbs.

We've been in a cooling trend since 1998, so if it keeps up, you might want to have a greenhouse.

Mind you, it was 3 here this morning....

Around here, rosemary is what you plant where nothing else will grow. There's a rosemary bush at the corner of the garage that Dad planted sometime around 1950. Pretty blue blossoms on it at the moment.
My sage plant is looking a bit wilted. The thyme is fine. I have two kinds of oregano. The stuff sold as "Italian oregano" (purple flowers) isn't dead, but it isn't really usable right now. I have another oregano bush that has pale yellow or white flowers, milder flavor and less glossy leaves than the Italian, and it's thriving. Blooming right now AAMOF. It's at least 10 years old - I have no idea what it was supposed to be, except it walks like a oregano and quacks like a oregano.
Basil is something I put in the ground in the spring and hope it doesn't bolt in a week or two. It seems to do better in a part-shade place, like under a tomato bush (nearly a tree last year) or something.
As a gardener, I go to the hardware store and buy the $2 herbs and stick them in the ground somewhere where the lawn watering may occasionally dampen them, and then ignore them. Most of my herbs are in the strip between the sidewalk and the street. They do fine when people don't let their dogs decorate them too much.

John

We've been in a cooling trend since 1998, so if it keeps up, you might want to have a greenhouse.

Mind you, it was 3 here this morning....

You, my friend, obviously need to get your mind right.

Mind you, it was 3 here this morning....

It's 3 here every morning--at 3 o'clock AM, that is.

-Paul W.

This has been the mildest winter in Albuquerque that I can remember. And virtually no snow, either. It has confused our flowering bulbs.

Frank is right. A generous snow cover can insulate many plants/herbs. Unfortunately, we've had a very frigid winter in Central Indiana with virtually no snow cover, so I'm not optimistic about our survival rate...I'd go check on the plant status but it is too damn cold outside. Although, I've been surprised before. That said, a rosemary cutting in the basement seems quite happy.

Aw, c'mon, Bill. So far, this winter isn't a patch on the winter of '94 Up here, we've had 2-3" of snow for the past week, which may be just enough to provide a touch of insulation. FWIW, our sage plant has survived unprotected for over 10 years now. They are truly the cold-hardiest of herbs. Our thyme and chives also fare well in all but the coldest winters.

Mark Lipton

Frank is right. A generous snow cover can insulate many plants/herbs. Unfortunately, we've had a very frigid winter in Central Indiana with virtually no snow cover, so I'm not optimistic about our survival rate...I'd go check on the plant status but it is too damn cold outside. Although, I've been surprised before. That said, a rosemary cutting in the basement seems quite happy.

Aw, c'mon, Bill. So far, this winter isn't a patch on the winter of '94 Up here, we've had 2-3" of snow for the past week, which may be just enough to provide a touch of insulation. FWIW, our sage plant has survived unprotected for over 10 years now. They are truly the cold-hardiest of herbs. Our thyme and chives also fare well in all but the coldest winters.

Mark Lipton

Thankfully, I wasn't in Indiana in '94.

I prolly didn't do a good job of quoting as I thought Frank was specifically referencing rosemary
Yeah, some of thyme varieties (varietals??), and for the most part sage survives, although we have some types of sage that are not as hardy as most. Most years our rosemary gets whacked unless we have a bunch of snow which rarely happens around here. Chives are a weed...even a chemist can't kill 'em.

BP

It must not have been quite as cool here on Whidbey. I've read that prostrate rosemary is less hardy than bushier one and that my garden seems to confirm that - the low ones are toast while the more upright kind are scorched but look like they may recover after some pruning. Sage, thyme and oregano are all fine. Chives die back to the ground but will be back, like all winters. My lowest temp here was 13 F one night, although other places on Whidbey got into the single digits - the coldest stretch in the Puget Sound area since 1990, I understand.

Had a proper look and... sage, fennel, oregano, marjoram, mint (just), parsley (small but in surprisingly rude health) are all alive. The tarragon, chives & basil died a while back.

Oh Jenise...does it usually last the winter? Here in the Northeast, everything outside dies during the winter. I did get one of those indoor herb gardens (Aerogarden) for Christmas and I have a bunch of herbs growing great in there.

Maria - I have been very interested in these indoor herb gardens but have been put off by the cost. Are they worthit - or rather, if you didn't receive it as a gift, would you have bought one? Is it easy to set up?

Anyone else buy one of these?

Anyone else buy one of these?

Nope. I just grow pots of herbs on the windowsill.

Frank is right. A generous snow cover can insulate many plants/herbs. Unfortunately, we've had a very frigid winter in Central Indiana with virtually no snow cover, so I'm not optimistic about our survival rate...I'd go check on the plant status but it is too damn cold outside. Although, I've been surprised before. That said, a rosemary cutting in the basement seems quite happy. Bill

Winger, do you move the rosemary plant around inside so that it gets sunlight? I have not had much success moving herbs inside as I am too lazy to move it daily or even more than once per day. Thanks.

Frank is right. A generous snow cover can insulate many plants/herbs. Unfortunately, we've had a very frigid winter in Central Indiana with virtually no snow cover, so I'm not optimistic about our survival rate...I'd go check on the plant status but it is too damn cold outside. Although, I've been surprised before. That said, a rosemary cutting in the basement seems quite happy. Bill

Winger, do you move the rosemary plant around inside so that it gets sunlight? I have not had much success moving herbs inside as I am too lazy to move it daily or even more than once per day. Thanks.

Bob,
Our basement has a couple of "daylight" windows approx. 4' x 5' ,so we just place the Rosemary, and some other outdoor plants inside the South facing window on a table. I have also fabricated a clear plastic cover for this same window well and it acts as a mini greenhouse when I move stuff out there in early spring.
Bill

[Jenise]

It must not have been quite as cool here on Whidbey. I've read that prostrate rosemary is less hardy than bushier one and that my garden seems to confirm that - the low ones are toast while the more upright kind are scorched but look like they may recover after some pruning. Sage, thyme and oregano are all fine. Chives die back to the ground but will be back, like all winters. My lowest temp here was 13 F one night, although other places on Whidbey got into the single digits - the coldest stretch in the Puget Sound area since 1990, I understand.

We had snow on the ground and overnight temps in the teens for almost three weeks straight, and I think that's what did it. My rosemary was actually the upright kind that I successfully nursed back from a partial kill two winters ago. This time, though, it's totally kaput. Though I understand what someone else pointed out about snow being an insulator, that's clearly what got it each time. The thyme, oregano, and lavendar in the same bed are gone too, and of course the sage basically died (for reasons not clear) before winter even set in.

[Jenise]

FWIW, our sage plant has survived unprotected for over 10 years now. They are truly the cold-hardiest of herbs. Our thyme and chives also fare well in all but the coldest winters.

Lucky you! I didn't realize that about sage and was amazed (and proud) of how large my sage plant got, but as I sadly mentioned months ago mine inexplicably died this summer.