Summer Savory

[jmsieglaff]

I grow Summer Savory from time to time for drying and using. I got mine going early this year so I've never been faced with it's tolerance to cold. How does it handle frost (or doesn't it?).....anyone take it down to mild freezes upper 20s/low 30s and have it come out ok?

[bower]

I think the general guidance is to plant it after your last frost date. You can always use row cover though, to protect early plantings from a frosty night.

Winter Savory is more frost tolerant (and perennial) but doesn't have the sweetness of flavor that makes summer savory so popular.

[jmsieglaff]

Thanks Bower! That's what I read and being a Mediterranean origin plant I suspect it would not like frost. I'll probably pot mine up and keep it in the cold frame as I'm likely to have frosts yet. Never have grown winter savory, when I was reading about herbs, the summer savory sounded tastier.

[Shule]

End-season plants seem to handle frost a little bit better than tomatoes. So, the plants die when it gets very cold (I'm not 100% sure of the answer to your question, though). I'm not sure about seedlings.

[Tormahto]

I just planted seeds of "Compact" summer savory and winter savory. I like to have both herbs on hand for fall/winter cooking.

[Amateurinawe]

I have some seeds for savory. But never grown it nor used it. This has persuaded me to plant a pot of two this year. Where it is all going to go I don't know yet.

[Tormahto]

I have some seeds for savory. But never grown it nor used it. This has persuaded me to plant a pot of two this year. Where it is all going to go I don't know yet.

Would it go in the parking space reserved for Dolly?

[Amateurinawe]

[mention]Tormato[/mention] Dolly and Miss Scarlett are coming up good and they have VIP parking spaces along with SOTW, the 'erbs will have to make due with parking in any vacant space at any vacant height in the multistorey carpark that is going to be my garden if these blooming seeds keep sprouting....And I was hoping to sneak the odd pot into the next door vacant area but it looks like the house is sold (subject to contract) so that is not an option...i have started offering out plants, there is no other option or it is the day of the triffids for me...

I have flowers forming on some of my crosses, so had to re-arrange my small lean-to greenhouse, but the flowers are too early....the carpark is full and the cars keep coming...

[karstopography]

[mention]Amateurinawe[/mention] summer savory will elevate lentils onto another level of flavor. I planted some summer savory, but it remains tiny and seemingly lacking something to grow. Still, dried summer savory is a great herb to have in the cabinet.

[Shule]

I have some seeds for savory. But never grown it nor used it. This has persuaded me to plant a pot of two this year. Where it is all going to go I don't know yet.

Even though I only know for sure that I love it in one recipe, it's still my favorite herb to grow and smell. The flowers look like fairy lights on mine, too (the pictures I see on Google don't show that). My plants don't get big: maybe 1.5' tall. They can reseed if you leave the plants out all winter (but that'll reduce your stem harvest a lot).

[mention]karstopography[/mention]
Great to know about lentils. I've heard summer savory is good with beans and eggs. I've just used them with a baked Kikinda Competition Strain gourd recipe, which has other important ingredients, too, and tastes kind of like lasagna. Summer savory smells a lot like oregano to me, and it's in some Italian seasoning that we have.

I wonder if it's good in chili.

[Tormahto]

@Amateurinawe summer savory will elevate lentils onto another level of flavor. I planted some summer savory, but it remains tiny and seemingly lacking something to grow. Still, dried summer savory is a great herb to have in the cabinet.

Lentils, that's about all I use it for.

[jmsieglaff]

I use it in a variety of soups and dishes and as part of a mix for seasoning roasts. I can’t see why a little in some chili wouldn’t hurt, I’d say experiment and see how you like it!

[bower]

I eat lentils pretty often, and I eat savory pretty often, but never put the two together... will have to try it! and the chili too...

[Growing Coastal]

A Dutch friend once told me that summer savory and string beans go together like brother and sister. They are pretty good together.

When I grew savory in the ground it would self-sow fairly early in the spring.