What to do with rosemary and thyme for the winter archived

I've never had luck overwintering rosemary. When I tried bringing it indoors for the winter, it dried up and died anyway. I guess the house was not humid enough, or too warm, or both.

I just leave my thyme out in the planters all winter after I cut them back and bring the cuttings into the house to dry and use during the winter. They've always come back in the springtime, blooming on the old wood that remained.

I know some people have more luck than I've had with rosemary, but it's native to the Mediterranean area, and that's the climate it loves. We don't have that here - yet.

My rosemary has never made it through the winter. However, I have a pot of creeping lemon thyme that has come back year after year after year. It sits near the back wall of the house, which faces south. I think between the warmth of the house and the sunshine, it gets all it needs. I also have a smaller pot of lavender that's come back for three years without any special attention, and it stays outside. This year, I think I'll trim it and the rosemary back and see what happens.

But I have to say, the rosemary has always been an annual for us.

Rosemary generally will not, though for some strains it is marginal. It also does not like being in the house. I generally have had luck bringing my rosemary into the garage which gets some heat from the house so never falls below freezing, but gets enough outside air to keep the humidity and stuff more "normal"

Thyme should survive.

We've thought many times about building cold frames to overwinter things such as the herbs... but we haven't done it yet.

Thanks, everyone. I guess I'll trim the rosemary and dry the trimmings for winter use, but not count on it coming back. And I'll cut back the thyme as well for the same purpose, but perhaps not too much so that it has enough to grow back on next year.

I have sage, oregano, and chives that come back faithfully year after year, and it's so nice not to have to keep buying and replanting them. I'm going to trim the oregano as well and dry it out. If anyone would like some once it's dry, let me know, as I'm sure I have more than I need.

I tried overwintering my lemongrass in the garage, but it didn't work. I do cut back the long "grass" part, dry it out, and then cut it into small pieces for lemongrass tea, which is lovely. And I'll cut some of the stalks to put in the freezer for cooking, but I don't think I'll try to save the whole plant this year.

I planted rosemary in the summer of 2010 and brought it in over the winter. It not only lived, but thrived. It was still alive and well until I moved it to a new pot a few weeks ago when it died in company with it's friends cilantro, thyme, basil, and mint. They REALLY didn't like my pretty new pot......

Such ungrateful herbs, teneciah.

Herbs are funny, in my experience. Sometimes they flourish, sometimes they die overnight. I've never figured out what I'm doing right or wrong with some of them. I'm ridiculously grateful when they insist on coming back again and again, as my thyme and sage have.

Right now I'm trying to grow a ginger plant from a shoot that came off a hand of fresh ginger I had for cooking. I have it in a homemade terrarium on a windowsill, so I can monitor and control the moisture and keep the cats from using it as a litter box. Tricky business!

I brought the rosemary in last winter to the garage. On sunny days i would bring it out and return it to garage at night. Came back in amazing form. But ... Thougg i plan to do this again this year, i admit it is ridiculous effort for a plant i spent 3 bucks on at home depot.

I bring my rosemary and my lemongrass in every winter and put them in the sunroom. They do just fine as long as they get plenty of light and don't dry out. My sage and thyme are in the ground and come back every year, as does my tarragon.

If you plant the rosemary against a southern wall and mulch the heck out of it, it can make it through the winter outside.

We've had mixed luck with thyme making it through the winter in pots left in the backyard. Last winter was the first time in five years ours survived, and I think it may have been because it had a nice warm blanket of snow on top of it for so much of the winter. Our rosemary has not been a survivor in any conditions. But our chives will be the last thing alive on earth after the apocalypse.

I have had a rosemary for about five years now. Every winter we pot it up, bring it in and put it next to a window, so it is actually touching the glass. The cold seems to make it happy. Then in the summer we plant it outside so it gets a vacation.

Add some parsley and sage and make a song?

No luck with rosemary wintering, inside or out... from what I understand, hearty rosemary will survive outside but it can't get too cold and it must be covered (jar or blanket) to even attempt its survival....

What about taking a cutting from the Rosemary plant (along with drying its leaves for the winter), stick it in rooting compound and growing a new plant for next Spring? Then you can put it out in the garden without any trips to Home Depot!

Rosemary:
Well, I trimmed the rosemary down to the bottom and am drying it out, though I much prefer fresh rosemary to dried. I doubt what's left of the plant will survive, but perhaps I'll cover it with a bit of straw or burlap and see what happens. As wsot pointed out, for $2-$3, I can always buy another one next year.

Lemongrass:
max, the problem with bringing the lemongrass plant inside is that it's too big to fit anywhere in our house. Our sunroom is quite small, and I can just barely squeeze in the geraniums. So, I trimmed back the leaves and have the full sheaf of them in the basement drying out. Once they're dry, I'll cut them into short lengths and use them for tea, though it makes so much I think I still have one more jar left from last year. If anyone would like some, I'd be happy to share.

Thyme:
I trimmed back the thyme that was hanging over the side of the garden bed and am drying that as well. I left the rest of the plant in the ground, and I believe it will come back, as I think I planted that last year and it came back this year.

Chives:
As for the apocalyptic chives, I trimmed them and cut them into short pieces. Usually I put them in the freezer, and then throw some into soups and stews in the winter. Does anyone think it's better to dry them?

Oregano:
I have a ton of oregano. Once dried, I crumble the leaves and put them in a glass jar, and it's great for cooking. Again, let me know if anyone would like some, jar included.

annieBB, part of the problem is that I don't have too many places to put the plants. Our kitchen window is where I would put the rosemary, but it hasn't survived there in the past, and that's where Hoodwink likes to hang out to oversee her territory, so space is at a premium.

I heard it was difficult to dry chives but they might turn out alright. Freezing seems like it would turn them into mush though.

Actually, the chives keep reasonably well in the freezer for a while, as long as they're nice and dry when you put them in a freezer zip bag, but after a point, they do end up with frost and freezer burn, and then you have to dump them.

Oh, I just found this on gardening.about.com:

Air drying herbs is not only the easiest and least expensive way to dry fresh herbs, but this slow drying process also doesn't deplete the herbs of their oils. This process works best with herbs that don't have a high moisture content, like Bay, Dill, Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Summer Savory and Thyme. Moisture dense herbs, like Basil, Chives, Mint, Tarragon preserve better in a dehydrator, or try freezing them. Use a microwave or oven to dry herbs only as a last resort. These actually cook the herbs to a degree, diminishing the oil content and flavor.

I once read that you can chop parsely or chives and put them into an ice cube tray, fill it with water and then put the ice cubes into ziploc freezer bags. When you need them, you just toss the ice cube into what you are cooking, or thaw it and use the herbs. Never did it myself, but it sounds like it would work. Supposed to keep them fresh and green until you need them.

I also grow bay leaves in a pot. I have one plant trimmed as a bush and another as a small tree. They also come in in the winter (we move chairs out of the sunroom and the plants have their way with it).

cody said:

I once read that you can chop parsely or chives and put them into an ice cube tray, fill it with water and then put the ice cubes into ziploc freezer bags. When you need them, you just toss the ice cube into what you are cooking, or thaw it and use the herbs. Never did it myself, but it sounds like it would work. Supposed to keep them fresh and green until you need them.

Just this minute finished freezing pesto in ice cube trays - just oil, garlic, and basil. Then I do just what you said -- drop a cube in sauce, or defrost two, add pinoles and cheese, and add to hot pasta.

I love pesto! Does the basil darken when you do it this way? I know when you put it in the jars with oil and salt, the basil turns almost black - tastes fine, but you don't have the beautiful green color. If this preserves the color, I'm going to do it your way.

Rosemary will sometimes survive a mild winter. Thyme and chives are, in my experience, indestructible.

How can I keep my Lemon Thyme from dying? I have no luck with it. Guess I will try some light mulching this year, like tomorrow. ha ha! (Insane! Snow?)

cody said:

I love pesto! Does the basil darken when you do it this way? I know when you put it in the jars with oil and salt, the basil turns almost black - tastes fine, but you don't have the beautiful green color. If this preserves the color, I'm going to do it your way.

As soon as it is solid, I pop them out and individually wrap them. The color change is oxidation -- keep them wrapped and in a ziplock and they'll look ok until spring.

Will do - thanks!