Winter savory

Satureja montana

Lamiaceae

The tougher bean herb — a shrubby perennial savory that winters over and still belongs in the pot with pulses.

Culinary perennial mint. Stronger and woodier than summer savory.

Parts used: Leaf and young stem
Traditional notes: Kitchen bean pot · After a pulse meal · Traditional digestive
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial subshrub, USDA 5–8 Cuttings or seed. A rock-garden plant that hates wet winters. In work: May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep
Harvest: Snip all season. Flavor peaks as it flowers. Hang-dry the soft tips.

Lean soil keeps it pungent.
Replace a woody center every few years from a cutting.

Safety

Mint-family allergy

Companions

Plant with Garden sage, Lavender, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme.

Lookalikes

Summer savory — Satureja hortensis is the annual bean herb. S. montana is the harsher perennial. A packet that only says ‘savory’ is a guess.

Lore

Virgil already has savory in the garden. The perennial mountain form kept poor European kitchens in a bean herb after the annual had gone to seed. German Bohnenkraut can mean either cousin; the winter one is the shrub you do not have to sow again. Charlemagne’s list of must-plants includes it. The cube came later.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.