Bringing herbs inside for winter

Hi all,

I have some pots of herbs in my garden that have done pretty well over summer, but now our heatwave seems to be over I'm thinking about bringing them in over winter.

I have:

rosemary
sage
thyme
oregano
chives
french tarragon
various types of mint

I was thinking rosemary, sage, chives and all the mint could stay outside, and the rest come in but I honestly have no idea. They're in fairly big, heavy ceramic pots so more I can safely leave outside the better really.

Any suggestions on who gets to come into the warmth and who has to tough it out? And also when exactly I should be bringing them in?

 

Hi,

I would bring the French Tarragon and the Oregano into a greenhouse or unheated porch or similar, so long as they don't get frosted should be OK. The others will be fine outside, but you might pot up a few chives and mint and bring these into the house and you should get some growth over winter so you have some fresh herbs.

a-a

 

Does anyone know if apple mint is hardy? I heard the other types are, but not this one?

Louiseness I'm sure you will have lots of nice herbs for cooking with over winter

 

According to the Jekka's herb farm site, apple mint is hardy, and so are pineapple mint and lime mint (and of course garden mint), all of which I have so that's good news :D

The only mint I'm a bit dubious about is the indian mint but I won't be too upset if it doesn't make it to be honest. No one can use that much mint!

 

Thanks for that Louiseness I should've asked before I chucked the damn thing but I did take two cuttings a few weeks back so it should be ok. Oooh I might have alook for the lime mint next year :D We have a normal garden mint, morrocan mint (my fave), chocolate peppermint and corsican mint (tiny tiny leaves).....Hoping these all should be fine, but took a cutting of the morrocan to fuel the mojito's over the winter . Any idea of a use for the corisican mint, we still haven't found one yet ? what is your indian mint like?

 

Ooo, chocolate mint! Very jealous!

I haven't tried any of the mints in food yet as I've only just got round to planting them out, but the lime mint smells utterly delicious, would be lovely in mojitos or other cocktails I think! Lovely reddish tone to the plant as well.

The indian mint isn't actually mint but a type of savory, I believe. But it smells kind of minty and spicy at the same time, very interesting.

 

I went to a lecture by Jekka last year and she said that mint in a pot grows roots around the edges of the pot, which are then at risk from frost. Unfortunately I can't remember what you're supposed to do about that. Maybe repot so the roots are in the centre of the compost?

I like the idea of all those mints, must get more next year. I have apple mint that made it though the winter in a pot last year.

 

I wish I'd done the same and left in the pot, but unfortunately it's already on the compost heap. I did take cuttings though luckily. Didn't think it was hardy.

Louiseness I found the indian mint at a local garden centre....was pleasantly surprised by the scent might actually make a nice mojito.....with a VERY minty kick! Must look for the lime mint too :D

 

I don't know about the tarragon.

The oregano should be ok if its sheltered from the worst of the weather.

Everything else should be ok, but note I said 'should'. Some Sages are a bit soft. At my last house where I grew a lot of herbs, my common sage was tough as old boots, but the purple sage suffered every winter.