Overwintering Perennial Herbs in raised beds?

Hi Fellow Gardeners;
I have what would, in most cases, be perennial herbs and at least one bi-ennial (parsley: Italian Flat-Leaf and Moss Curled plus the other usual suspects, a bushy rosemary that thrived in my raised bed garden, peppermint placed in a pot within the square foot garden but allowed to slightly go to town but kept in the square, Common Thyme, LOTS of Garden Sage, Garlic and Standard Chives, Variegated Basil (Basilicum x Citridorium, if I recall correctly...which is a very tender perenniall that is meant for the Mediterannean or Sub-Tropical regions so will obviously need to bring indoors, but had to brag as it is quite wonderful) and a TON of Garden and a bit of Golden Sage and a ton of Greek/Italian Oregano. My question is as follows: Will the hardy perennialsl over-winter in raised beds and if so, what kind of care do they need to do so, as it'd be a real shame to lose any of them at all! The chives (regular will be transferred from a pot into the soil of the raised bed once everything else dies back for the year.

Thanks for your time, I appreciate any advice that you may have for me! Below, a picture of my little Rosemary...even if it's not huge, just pretty.

Sincerest Blessings,
Thor

Hi I am in maine these winter well with no care
peppermint Common Thyme, Garlic and Standard Chives,Greek/Italian Oregano. These wil not you can collect seeds or bring and side and try to keep alive, parsley: Italian Flat-Leaf and Moss Curled, rosemary ,Garden Sage, Variegated Basil (Basilicum x Citridorium, Golden Sage.I had no luck so I just took some tender cuttings and they are rooting to try and save.I am a zone 4-5

Flowers is correct on all but garden sage for our zone. I'm in S'boro (a few towns away from you) and common garden sage will winter over just fine here. Mine is in a raised bed as well.
Thyme will depend on how deep the bed is, just use some leaf mulch on it before the first real snowfall and it should be fine.

In fact, I have a few raised beds and I leaf mulch them all fairly deep before the first big snowfall hits and rake off in spring and have very little loss.

so maybe My sage will winter ,I have regular and tri colored.

I'm in zone 5 in the northern Catskills. Garden sage winters over with no problem. (Just make sure it is extremely well drained soil) Sometimes, purple sage and golden sage will winter over. However, I have not had good luck with tri colored sage wintering over. All my sages are in raised beds.

Wow, thanks for all the great advice...I presume that hay/straw muclh would work, especially if held down by netting or even a row or landscaping fabric. Does anyone think that moving the herbs which are on the outer squares of the beds (since I have only a 8-10" high grouping of raised beds) into the center area would help insulate them on the sides and then just replant them wherever I want them back into their "home squares?" Also, I had NEVER heard of Purple Garden Sage and wonde; Does yours produce any seeds whatsoever as I would love any that you could spare! Oh, and my soil is a half/half mix of compost/garden soil with a burlap sack each of vermiculate/perlite also mixed into each bed, so the drainage is almost too good.

"Herbspirit," do you have any unusual herbs/seeds that you'd be willing to trade for anything on my trade list and to which you could add a rooted cutting of the Variegated Basil (very tender perennial) to the list and some other stuff which I just haven't had time to list like a very diverse and eclectic mix of tomato, pepper, Zinnias, and veggie collection which people can't believe and that, would--quite frankly--take a day in front of the screen which would kill my hands, eyes, and back. LOL I just thought that, since we were nearby each other, that exchanging seeds or plants might be fun and a way to expand our gardeing horizons. Please let me know if at all interested as so many are not listed. Thaniks!!''


Many Blessings,
Thor

I have a ton of herbs, but most of mine are medicinal, not culinary. I have tons of tea herbs as well. What are you looking for?

I looked at your list and some culinary herbs that are missing- Marjoram, Costmary, Lovage. Costmary may be scare for me this year as the plants didn't do so well. What about mints (peppermint, spearmint, oswego (bee balm), lemon balm, etc.) All of these are perennials.

This message was edited Sep 7, 2009 11:46 PM

Thor, my purple sage (Salvia officinalis purpurea) doesn't bloom for me in my short growing season. So, no seed. At least it does winter over, unless it was an exceptionally cold year.

I see you aren't ~too~ far from Salisbury, MA, where Herb Farmacy is located. We went there earlier this year. I highly suggest you visit this herb plant vendor in the spring. You will find all sorts of plants you simply must have for your garden.

Herbspirit...I am quite intrigued by Oswego which also has amazing flowers upon lookup! I have an area planted--this year--with red Pontiac Potatoes and was offered June Early (?) Strawberry plants but was told they shouldn't be grown there.....E-V-E-R! I don't know why, but I know that Strawberry leaves make good tea, at least I believe my stepmother, who would take my beloved "herbs" to whole new heights to the plants detriment, cutting off huge chunks at a time. I would love to try Raspberries and/or Blueberries since they grow so well up in this area, I've noted. I would be most interested in Oswego "tea." How to you grow that...from seed, start, or how exactly? If it takes over an area and has beautiful flowers as I noted it did and in all colors too...YAY..I'd love to try growing it and see how it goes.

OFF SUBJECT:
I had to sacrifice most of my tomatoes this last week as the Late Blight took over the entire plants, leaves-fruits, and all--seemingly over the course of a couple of days after finding a few yellow leaves, clipped them off, and continued picking the ripe guys. THEN BOOM...they turned into nasty wrecks fit only for a garbage can, except for three little "tomatoes that could," one of which was a blueberry x tomato bred by the University of Oregon with blue-crowned large-cherry fruits and a nice bite to them due to the effect that all of the antioxidants had on their development; also a perfectly round-shaped variety of which I am unfamiliar as to the type, and one straight-running Sungold which is about 8 ft tall, no word of a lie and just keeps producing despite the blight all around it. I will DEFINATELY collect seeds from these guys and putting them in the fridge just to grow a few each year as these guys, while-in some cases-living inches away, didn't get the disease or got a few mottled leaf tips but stopped there.

Back on Subject:
I had what I thought to be "Black Stemmed" Peppermint, yet...when I planted it...it turned out to just have green stems like an ordinary peppermint, so maybe the trader got the plants mixed up with someone else's so that's a bit disappointing...and I also do, indeed, have Lemon Verbena but not Lemon Balm though I know it's out there.but since I am doing Square Foot Gardening in the raised beds and knew that the former has excellent pest repellent properties which made it very useful next to my Italian Oregano/Marjoram (right?), cabbage, broccoli, broccoli, and lettuce.

Sort Of Off Subject...Eyes of the Beholder:
I also grew Lemon Verbena in the square next my White Wonder Cucumbers which I managed to train upwards on on of those square tomato cages which folds out with 7' bamboo stakes woven through the sections and driven into the ground to added support plus used that flexible plastic tape (used most often to tie up tomatoes because it is very flexible but yet does stay where its ties) to tie off the sections of the cucumber vines as they grew up. I find that growing vertically can be done a variety of ways...for more ideas, just ask. :-)

Anyway, I love different types of mints as well as things which flower and that I could combine in a tea ball (something which I don't have and my partner would show no interest in spending the money on since he just started school full time and that things that aren't related to necessities aren't big priorities. I would love Orange, Lemon,Spearmint, and even Apple Mint,etc. Anyway, enough for now. Ciao for now!

Thor

Thor-

Oswego is another name for Bee-Balm (monarda didyma). Makes great tea, and hummingbirds love it. It grows like any mint, like crazy, you can start from seed or from plants.
I just re-did my Iris bed and have tons of Bee balm I took out for trades, as it it overgrown into the Irises, you can have some if you'd like. No trade necessary.

Lemon Balm I have a ton of as well, it's one of my favorite tea herbs. Very relaxing. I have to pull out plants every year.

You don't need a tea ball of any of these. In fact i only use a tea ball at work, just to make it easier, at home I never use one.
I just heat the water in a pan and turn it off before boiling, move it off of the burner, and put the plants in. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes. (stir a few times) Then just pour it into a cup (use a strainer in between to separate the tea from the plants). And there you go, no tea ball needed, only regular kitchen cooking equipment. The trick is that when you dry it, leave it as whole as possible and don't break up unti you use it, and then don't break it up super fine either when you put it in the water and it's easy to strain off.

If you are using fresh to make tea, it's even easier, you can use the method above, or just put the fresh plants in a clear glass (or canning jar- my fav), fill it with hot water, put a lid on, and put it out in the sun to sit for a bit, then just sip from it all day. As it's a big piece of plant, it usually won't get in the way of drinking it.

That's unfortunate about the blight. I belong to a local CSA where 1800+ plants had to be taken out last month. No tomato harvest this year. But that's the price you pay sometimes with organic farming methods. I guess I'll be in Stop and Shop like everyone else buying tomatoes. I usually get the ones grown in Hopkinton, they are hydroponic, but at least they are local. My local S&S - Westborough, carries those.

Regarding "Black Stemmed" Peppermint, I've assuming you are talking about the standard dark purple stemmed mentha piperita. Here is the deal with peppermint, I have found if you plant it near other mints, they cross pollinate and you often end up later having green stems, like mentha spicata- spearmint. They are just hybrid of each other in nature. Or it is possible that the person or place you got it from had misidentified it as Peppermint, when in fact it was spearmint.

As for pest protection.... you can also use marigolds or calendula - pot marigold, the later of which makes a great skin salve, along with other things. I use ll my Lemon verbena for tea or for making desserts or flavored liquors... totally off topic!

Patricia

Raised herb bed here and those winter over fine for me with no extra care. I don't have the moss curl parsley though.