Winter Savory

The often-evergreen leaves of winter savory (satureja montana) can help to keep the memories of your herb garden alive during the cold winter months.

In the spring, this beautiful herb will be one of the first fragrances you'll enjoy from your garden.

Besides its beautiful foliage and inviting aroma, this herb is most often used as a culinary herb, but it also has marked medicinal benefits, especially upon the whole digestive system.

It has a stronger action than the closely related summer savory.

This herb can also be pruned into a small hedge for formal gardens.

Description

A perennial herb that grows up to 16 inches tall in zones 5 to 10.

Flowers: Spikes of small white to purplish flowers bloom atop the plants in early summer.

Leaves: The narrowly oval, opposite, 1 inch long leaves have smooth edges and are wider at the tip end than at the base. Winter savory is semi-evergreen in moderate climates or in protected sites.

Flavor and fragrance: It has a strong, sharp peppery flavor and aroma.

How To Grow

When to plant: Buy young plants and transplant them to your garden in spring or summer. You can also sow the seeds indoors eight to ten weeks before your last spring frost date. Transplant seedlings to the garden after all danger of frost has passed.

Where to plant: Prefers full sun but will tolerate filtered shade.

Soil and fertility: Plant in well-drained light soil of low to moderate fertility. Do not apply compost more than once every two years; high nitrogen levels make this herb more susceptible to diseases.

Plant spacing: Space the plants about 1 foot apart.

Pests: Usually pest-free

Diseases: Susceptible to root rot and winterkill in soggy soils.

Harvesting

When to harvest: Harvest small sprigs as needed. For drying, harvest before or after the plant blooms. For best quality, gather the leafy stems in the morning after the dew dries.

How to harvest: Snip off the branch tips for small amounts. When harvesting larger quantities for drying, cut whole stems to about 6 inches above the soils surface; cut again near the end of the summer.

Drying: Hang the stems upside down to air dry.

Uses

Cooking: This strongly flavored herb is best used in crab dishes and with other strong flavors. It overpowers chicken but is just right in pates and meat pies.

Vinegars: Use winter savory to make flavored vinegars.