Bringing Herbs Indoors for the Winter - How To Manage Herbs and Herb Plants for Winter Enjoyment
87A Pot of Healthy Young Herbs
Bringing Herbs Indoors for the Winter
If you garden in a temperate climate, as I do, you are saddened by the approach of the end of the growing season. Winter brings its joys, for sure, but it also brings an end to walking out the kitchen door to snip fresh herbs in the garden. However, you can bring your herbs indoors for the winter, whether in pots as live, growing plants, or in a number of preserved forms. Not all herb plants lend themselves to being dug up out of the garden at the end of the growing season or to being managed in pots indoors during the winter months, yet, with careful planning and a little work, you can enjoy the aroma and taste of your garden’s herbs, fresh or preserved, after the outdoor growing season is over. Bringing herbs indoors for winter enjoyment is a matter of knowing which herb plants will do well indoors and which will not, and of being creative about preserving fresh garden herbs through drying, freezing, and storing in oil or vinegar.
Know Your Herbs - A Strategy for Managing Herbs and Herb Plants for Winter Enjoyment
It’s all about the herbs; it’s not about me or you. Herbs have different tolerances, and thus requirements, based on a number of characteristics, and it’s up to us to know their characteristics and to meet the needs the characteristics demand. Characteristics include hardiness, growth cycle, and type of root. When you know these characteristics, you can make informed decisions about which herb plants will do well in indoor conditions and which will not.
Lavender - An Outstanding Hardy Perennial Herb
Rosemary - A Semi-Hardy Perennial Herb
Lemon Verbena - A Tender Perennial Herb
Basil - An Annual Herb Plant
Parsley - A Biennial Herb
About Hardiness
Hardy perennial herb plants such as French tarragon, lavender, and chive take their rest in the garden over winter. Although the top parts of the plants die back in the winter, the roots remain alive in the ground in a dormant state. In the spring, fresh new top growth emerges. During the spring and summer, cut their new growth regularly for freezing or drying.
Semi-hardy perennial herb plants such as rosemary, Greek oregano, and some of the thymes may stay in the ground as well. If they don’t make it through the winter, you can replace them in the spring. It’s possible that one area of your yard will work better for these plants than another, so experiment a little. Semi-hardy perennial herbs are thus hardy for some temperate micro-climates but not for others!
Tender perennial herb plants such as bay laurel and lemon verbena can become quite large and impressive herb plants over time. Grown in their natural environments, the bay laurel can reach a height of 40 feet and the lemon verbena 15 feet. In temperate climates they are either treated as annuals in the outdoor garden, or kept in pots all year ‘round, summering outdoors and resting indoors for the winter as they have no tolerance for frost.
About Growth Cycles
Annual herb plants such as basil and dill are planted new each spring, either from seeds or seedlings. Some annual herbs lend themselves well to a late summer seeding in pots, after which they can be brought indoors and kept in strong light conditions. Their growth will be limited indoors, but there will be enough to lend some green to the house and some flavor in the kitchen.
Biennial herb plants such as parsley, caraway, and angelica have a two-year growth cycle. In their first season, they sprout from seed and reach their maximum vegetative growth late in the summer. In the following spring, left undisturbed in the ground through the winter, they send up flower stalks at the sacrifice of the succulent growth we cherish as the green herb. When the spring flowers are spent, the ripe seeds can be planted, and the plant’s two-year cycle will begin again.
About Root Types
Most common herb plants have shallow-to-deep fibrous systems. But some, such as parsley and caraway, have tap roots which do not lend themselves to being uprooted from the ground, nor do they lend themselves to living well in pots over long periods of time. These plants grow like carrots; they seek deep, porous soil to provide an easy path for sending their main root downwards. If their main root is inhibited by lack of space or compacted soil, their top growth will be less than stellar.
Simple Rules of Thumb for Deciding Which Herb Plants to Bring Indoors and Which Herbs To Preserve
- Let hardy perennial herb plants remain in the ground over winter and enjoy their taste and fragrance during the coldest months by freezing, drying, or preserving in oil or vinegar.
- Establish semi-hardy and tender perennial herb plants in pots for migration from outdoors to indoors.
- Start seedlings in small pots in late summer outdoors for fresh, actively growing young herbs indoors in the winter.
- Avoid uprooting herbs with tap roots.
Managing Potted Herb Plants Outdoors During the Growing Season
After planting semi-hardy or tender perennial herb plants in pots in the spring for eventual migration indoors for the winter, you may want to sink these pots into the garden soil during the growing season. Doing so will help preserve moisture and even out temperature extremes. At the end of the summer, just pull up the pots and clean them thoroughly before bringing indoors.
Chives - So Easy To Grow from Seed!
A Sample Plan for Managing Herbs and Herb Plants for Winter Enjoyment
February-March : Start easy-to-seed plants of perennial, annual, and biennial herbs…such as chive, basil, and parsley…for transplanting into the summer garden after the last expected frost date for your region.
March-May : Shop local nurseries or online plant suppliers for the hardy, semi-hardy, or tender perennial herb plants you want to establish. Plant the hardy perennial herb plants in the garden; plant the semi-hardy and tender perennial herb plants in commercial potting soil in the pots which you will migrate indoors in the autumn.
May : Let the herb plants establish themselves outdoors.
June-August : Make frequent cuttings of new herb plant growth for eating and for preserving for winter enjoyment.
August-September : Start those easy-to-seed herb plants in small pots for fresh herbs indoors during the winter months and for holiday gift-giving.
September-October : Prepare your indoor environment for the potted semi-hardy and tender perennials and the August seedlings you established in pots during the summer.
October : Make sure all herb plants destined for indoors are safely inside before the first expected frost date.
When you know the characteristics of herb plants and create a plan to manage their needs throughout the year, you can enjoy the tastes and aromas of your summer herb garden all year ‘round.
Resources for Learning More about Herbs and Their Characteristics
- Herbs and Herbal Uses
Wonderful herb charts showing which are annual, perrenial, tender or hardy, and you can even print your own seed packets! - Growing Herbs in the Home Garden
Resource for growing herbs indoors and out from the West Virginia University Extension Service. - List of Common Herbs - Herb Gardening - University of Illinois Extension
An invaluable resource for both beginning and experienced herb gardeners. - Bay Laurel Plants Veggie Gardening Tips
Bay Laurel, also known as Sweet Bay, is a culinary herb plant that makes a great addition to the kitchen garden and can easily be grown on a patio or deck.
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Marisue beat me to it. I will have to be faster on the draw next time.
She is correct, you give us so much in each of your hubs. I must admit that I am a hazard to anything green but my wife loves herbs so I am going to try to grow some this spring. I will let you know. NEIL
I agree with mariesuewrites. This hub has been presented very well and I can see that it is more than useful for those who grow herbs and want to keep them going during the winter.
WOW--that was a lot of information delivered in a very simple, easy to read format--best kind of writing--leave 'em wanting more! ;-)
Perhaps next, an article on how to do the herbs-in-oil bottles? Those are always so pretty, but so far, all the info I've found has been either contradictory, complicated, or confusing.
A fantastic Hub!! Thank you Sally, you answered my question perfectly. So much useful information. I have only recently gotten into herb gardening and this will help me out tremendously!
Thank you for such a helpful advice.
Great info and just what I needed for my job this weekend - have bookmarked, thanks. I also grow chillis (saves a fortune) so I'll have to check about them.
Pat writes: this is a very useful hub, and I shall take another look in February. I intend to grow more edible food next year. Tricia is already an estabished herb grower
You've put lots of helpful detail into this - thanks.
Marisue, I'm delighted that you were the "first responder"...it made me feel like we were having a conversation! Glad this info is useful for you.
Neil, you've got to be faster on the uptake to beat Marisue, although I must say you are always right there when I publish a Hub! If you are going to try experimenting this spring with herbs, just remember that they are very forgiving and very resilient, like grandparents. ~Sherri
ecoggins, thanks so much for reading and for leaving your good words. I do hope this info is useful to many.
MsLizzy, you are a sharp cookie. This Hub assumes that you know a good deal about herbs, but maybe haven't taken the time to figure out how to get the best out of them in the winter.
About oil infused with herbs, you are right. The info out there is contradictory. And that's because you can't add fresh herbs to oil and bottle the concoction thinking it will be preserved as if you pickled some cucumbers in vinegar. The chemistry of oil and vinegar is very different. Thanks for the push to write a Hub about this.
Carrie, thanks so much for putting the question out there. Glad this info may help you out in your new adventure.
Oooh great tips - and thanks so much for all the information and the photos - there is nothing like these fresh herbs. This will be my reference guide to bookmark.
Rated way up! Yay!
All the comments above speak for themselves ST. You outdo yourself each and every time. Although I know precious little about herbs, I shall try and find out more about their growth in the wild during my forthcoming trip to the Western Himalayas. Thank you for this information, ye Storehouse of Knowledge.
Jamie, chili pepper plants do well indoors over winter, given the right conditions. There's a lot out there on the Net about how to go about it. Maybe that will be a topic of a Hub of yours? Thank you so much for the good words.
Hh, as always, so glad for your reading and commenting. :)
2Patricias, thank you so much for your comments. Coming from two accomplished gardeners, your words are special to me. Glad you find this helpful!
sally,great hub as always,thanks to you i always learn new things...keep up the good work my dear friend.
love always..
FlyingPanther
Great tips and about that time again!
First, I not only agree with Sabu, but am also LOL at his comment, ye storehouse of knowledge. He is absolutely right! But I knew that :)
So, you mean to tell me all these 40+ years of cooking, all the dried bottled herbs that I buy at the supermarket and use are for naught? LOL
Seriously, I'm sure there is a world of difference between fresh grown herbs as opposed to the store-bought dried ones. And, as you well know, I do no gardening whatsoever, but I do indulge in buying fresh scallions and garlic.
I wouldn't mind taking a trip into the city before winter sets in to visit the vendors outside my granddaughter's doctor's office in Manhattan. They have a wonderful variety of yummy things, albeit pricey.
Lovely hub, dear friend.
I'm in a patio home now, so we don't have a garden. I'm afraid my cats would eat any indoor plants! :-)
BK, your enthusiasm is contagious! Thanks so much for reading and sharing your good words.
Sabu, I think you will make many discoveries on your approaching adventure about the plants growing in the area, those plants that are used for medicinal and other purposes. Looking forward to reading your chronicles, perhaps toward the end of the year?
And thanks to YOU always, FlyingPanther. :)
akirchner, yes it is that time again. Glad you like the tips!
Trish, nothing beats herbs fresh out of the garden, but quality dried herbs are necessary provisions in any kitchen. Your dried herbs are not for naught! Thank you always, my friend, for adding your thoughtful comments here.
Lori, indoor plants are always challenges when cats are involved, no doubt about it!
Oh, I would love to bring my basil indoors for the winter. I miss it so much during the cold weather. Guess it's too late to start a new one. Oh, heck. I am going to dig it up and just see what happens. It will die off anyway!
Dolores, I know what you mean about missing the fresh basil. You can start the seeds any time. In about 6 weeks, after three sets of leaves appear, you'd have the first small cuttings. I like your spirit about digging up the mature plant now...you are right, you have nothing to lose!
Hi , really enjoyed this very informative and well written hub. Photographs excellent enhancement. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing some of your great tips. I've yet to keep my Rosemary from dying once I bring them in the house. I will give it another try this year though. Booohooo here comes the cold again.
great hub hope you're well
regards Zsuzsy
D.A.L., thanks so much for reading and leaving your good words. I am quite thankful for sxc.hu and some of the fine photographs that are available there for free.
Zsuzsy, I share your pain! The only rosemary that's survived a winter indoors for me is the creeping kind, never the erect variety. Check out this link for tips on bringing rosemary indoors in northern climes. Keep in mind the writer has a greenhouse. :p
http://www.finegardening.com/plants/articles/rosem
We are well and hope you are too. Best regards, always, to you and yours. ~Sherri
Perfect timing!
I wish we could bring the basil in..
*sigh* We all want that basil. As Dolores says, might as well risk it, because it's going to die anyway when the first frost hits.
I love this post. It is very helpful and up to date. Last comment: As Dolores says, might as well risk it, because it's going to die anyway when the first frost hits." Cut off branches of basil and make a basil bouquet before frost, in a vase or jar. Basil will keep for fresh use for a couple of weeks and will even start growing roots.
Patsybell, this is great advice. I have never been able to keep basil fresh in a vase or jar for a couple of weeks...only for a few days. But different gardeners have different magic. You are right, given enough time, basil cuttings will root in water. Thanks so much for your awesome comment.
Oh I gotta try this basil rooting. Sounds an interesting experiment. I try to keep them in my narrow windowsill in small pots, but its just too cold there :(
I think it sounds interesting, too, Louis. Good luck!
This is an excellent hub. I love my gardening and will miss it during the winter season. I am so glad to learn that I can bring some of my herbs indoors. I do hope I care for them properly. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the good words, vocalcoach. I, too, will miss the outdoor gardening.
You WILL care properly for the herbs you bring indoors...It's a matter of mind over plant matter! If they all don't make it, you'll know you did your best and you'll be armed with good experience for better success in the next winter.
We can use our chives, garlic chives, mint, parsley and thyme all year long from our garden but at this time of year the basil starts to go. I just replant in the Spring and have it most of the year. Our sage should also be OK and we have a large bay laurel shrub that IF it gets nipped by frost, I just cut it back and it continues to grow.
Great advice in this hub...rating it useful.
Peggy, your comments say it all for gardeners...plants adapt on their own to their environments, or, you can help the plants adapt. The key is to look at what's going on with the plants and make acommodations for them as they are needed. That's the key.
Sage here, in the NE USA in some places, does very well over the winter. My mother has kept one growing in the ground outdoors for 15 years. Her soil is mostly sand, as she's in that part of New Jersey where the soil is rich with sand and sparse on clay. I'm only 50 miles away from her, but I've never had a sage plant survive in the ground over winter, ground which is heavy with clay and rock.
If I had a bay laurel outside during frost, it would be toast!
I wonder if, in your favorable environment, you might find a special place in the garden for the basil to survive over winter...perhaps a protected, sheltered place while you also trim the plant mercilessly, as you do the bay.
Very good and useful information, Sally. I love herbs, but unfortunately do not have room inside for them during the winter. I will be growing some on my patio next season. They will have to be in pots, so your info will help me decide which herbs to grow next year. Thank you.
Thank you, Phyllis. There's nothing that makes me happier than knowing I've shared something useful. Have as much fun planning the patio garden in the winter as you will tending it in the growing season!
WEll, I just had to stop by and read this. I love my herbs and love going out my kitchen door out onto my deck in summer and snipping what I need from a big pot I grow basil, parsley, rosemary and thyme in-- but I never thought of bringing them in for the winter. Ashamed to say I always just let them die and start over in the spring. shhhh-- don't tell:-)
Cross my heart and hope to die. :)
Great info! Here in Australia we don't need to worry bout winter time so all herbs stays out! Natural way is the best way! Eat healthy
Lucky you, Daniela! Thanks for reading and leaving the good words.
These are great tips. The rosemary is a little difficult to transport sometimes because in San Diego, where I live, it gets huge. We have 2 rosemary bushes that are 3 feet wide and stand 4 feet tall. They actually still do really well in the winter. Even though herbs grow pretty well out here even in winter, I still like the idea of growing them indoors just for the smells and the vibrance they bring to the house.
Herbs are really great and we must know what we are eating. Good work!
Benjimester, you certainly do own the bragging rights to rosemary. In the northeast here, if we are very lucky, we might get rosemary to perform as it does in your climate, but that's pretty rare, indoors or out. Therefore, I simply can not sympathize with the difficulty you have moving a robust rosemary around...you lucky dog!
JohnBarret, thanks for the good words. Glad you enjoyed this Hub!
Hi, Oh this is really useful! I have just started to try and grow some herbs on my balcony, it does get a lot of sun, but as you said it all depends on which herb you are growing, I was getting myself in a tiz trying to figure out which was which and when to bring them in! bookmarked, and voted up because it is just what I needed! thanks nell
Nell, you are so welcome! It's a joy to know that I can be of some help. Have great fun and good success growing and caring for these wonderful plants.
I'm not very good at indoor plants of any kind but I do so miss my garden during the winter. After reading your article and after the holidays I'm going to try a couple of herbs, thinking dill and basil and see how it goes. Thanks.
Love this hub, its very timely for me, and I can use your ideas in the future if not this winter. I love herbs and growing them, thank you so much!
Daisy, dill and basil seeds are easily started indoors. When you plant the dill seed, put lots of the seeds into a pot, maybe twenty or so. They will sprout abundant greens which you can trim off with a scissors.
As for basil, my local supermarket sells fresh young basil plants wrapped in a protective plastic shield. If you have these where you live, you could encourage these young plants in your home with lots of sunlight.
Best wishes in your new adventure!
oceansnsunsets, you are so welcome. Plants go on and on throughout the seasons, and if we miss an opportunity in one season, the next one will let us catch up with the plants. Glad this Hub planted a thought for the future.
As usual, an incredibly informative and in-depth article. I have grown herbs in the past, but never knew the intricacies of winters effects or which could be dried, etc. If I take it up again, I'll know where to come for my crash course. Thank you!
Thanks for the good words, Chris. I'm always available for one-on-one consultation to prepare for the crash course. :)
Hi Sally,
I came back to have another look. I bought a package of fresh Chives to decorate my plates on Thanksgiving. If I'm understanding correctly, I can freeze the leftover ones. Will they look as good when they are thawed, for garnishing, or only for cooking with? Thanks.
Chris, the best way to freeze them is to chop them in small pieces, freeze them on a tray, and then bag them. See my Hub, 10 Ways to Use Chive Plants, way #6 for the details of this freezing process. Chives do retain their color and taste when frozen this way, but like any frozen vegetable that's thawed, the taste and color may be the same but the texture never is.
I can imagine the fresh chives were a beautiful garnish for your Thanksgiving plates. If you want to use frozen chives for an artistic enhancement, keep in mind that they won't look the same as they did when fresh. But that shouldn't dampen your creativity...you'd be using the same essence, but in a different medium, maybe like creating in water color instead of in oil.
Thanks for the great question. ~Sherri
I am planning for my new home decoration and after reading this hub, I actually got idea about the indoor plants and how to manage them
Kevin, glad to hear this Hub gave you some useful ideas. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Your hub is worthy of bookmarking. It is well put together and interesting hub. I love fresh herbs, it makes such a difference in cooking. Thanks for the beautiful article. rated up awesome useful and beautiful and also shared.
toknowinfo, thank you for the lovely comment and votes, and for sharing. I'm very happy you find this information useful and worth passing along!
What a great hub - very useful and I will definately bookmark it. Thank you for the info!
You are so welcome, arizonasunshine. Glad you found useful!
What an extremely useful hub. I'm bookmarking it. Thanks!
You are welcome!
Thanks for the info--here in Nova Scotia the temps are starting to dive at night, so I'm eyeing up my deck planter that has basil, stevia, and tarragon. After reading your hub, I think I'm going to try to bring the basil and stevia inside in pots and plant the tarragon in my regular outside herb garden. Love the smell of the herbs in the planter on the deck when I water them, hopefully I can keep that smell around inside all winter too.
You are so welcome, Beatti.
It may be a little late to plant the tarragon in your outdoor garden, but tarragon is so hardy, it's hard to say if it will make it or not. It does need some time to establish its roots. On the other hand, if you keep it in its pot and bury the pot outdoors in your garden and give it a good layer of mulch, then maybe springtime will bring a nice new growth. In other words, don't disturb its roots right now.
I've never grown stevia, but as for the basil, it will die at the first frost, so if you can bring it indoors, then you will have some fresh basil for the months to come, and the fragrance that comes along with it.
Thanks for the info, my planter is too large to bury but I will mulch the tarragon after planting it in the garden, will let you know if it survives our fluctuating temperatures that we get in the winter here. This was my first attempt at stevia--it was a success, a big hardy plant that the earwigs didn't seem to like to munch on. It added a nice touch and flavour to iced tea(fyi extremely sweet but safe for diabetics if you know anyone has that condition). I'm going to cut it back a bit before bringing it in this weekend and dry the leaves to use this winter. Already looking forward to next spring, lol.
Beatti, thank you so much for this update. Please let us know what happens in the spring. BTW, love that earwigs don't like stevia. Nasty buggards!
Thank you for the article. I am in Colorado and bought French lavender, which I planted in the garden this spring. I didn't realize it is not winter-hardy, and was wondering if I should transfer it to pots and bring inside. If so, would it "rest" in a full sun window or better in a "shady" indoors location? We have 300 full sun days a year. Thanks again in advance for your help. Great writing!
Sonya, I found this information, which I think will be very helpful since you are not in Zones 8-11:
http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week496.shtml
It will answer all the questions you asked here, and then some. I would only add that, since you will be digging it up out of the garden, you try to keep as much root with it as possible, and don't be too disappointed if the shock is too much.
Good luck with this beautiful plant, and thank you so much for reading and commenting.
Sally, you are THE BEST. Thank you so much!
Sonya, you are so welcome! I also should have added that if your winter rescue doesn't work this year, then start again next spring with new plants, committing to them as plants that will live in containers that you can move from outside to inside for the duration of their lives. Please let us know the outcome. :)
Thanks Sally that was a really good and helpful hub.
dobo700, thank you for reading and commenting and leaving the good words!
Starting herbs indoors may be the way to go for me. Not only are the frosts a concern, but the birds, as well! I tried planting sunflowers outside this spring only to find all the seeds plucked from their holes. Next time I'm inclined to plant sunflowers, I'm definitely letting those seedlings take root indoors before transplanting them outside.
That's a smart strategy, dust2dusk, starting the seeds indoors. That way you can keep an eye on water and potential pests, plus you don't have to worry about birds!
I start all seeds indoors, even peas and beans. I have a very small growing area, and I have to make every inch of it count, and every minute of the growing season, too.
Your sunflower story breaks my heart! At least you made a few birds pretty happy. :)
Very informative hub. I always miss gardening in the winter!
I do, too, Durant. :)
I LOVE IT
Thanks, MOOMAL!
marisuewrites 20 months ago
Wow, Sally, a beautiful and informative dissertation on Herbs and their use and care. I'm printing this one out for continual use and reference. Your layout was as delicious as the herbs I'm so tempted to use. Useful, awesome and beautiful hub! All that is expected of you, and you always fulfill and exceed expectations.
I would love to see a 40 foot bay laurel and the tall lemon verbena, but even more, I'm envious of such an herb garden.
I believe I will utilize the herbs in pots that are put into the ground for later removal. Seems like I will be busy this next Spring!
I love to visit your hub pages. Did I say that yet? And, I love being first to respond!