Herbs

[Ric.ror]

I bought 3 lots of herbs from Homebase at Christmas to use in cooking - the thyme one is fine but both the sage and Rosemary are dead now - the Rosemary went first as it did not take too well to me taking a few stalks off for the potatoes

Where on earth have I gone wrong - they seemed to be thriving until I needed them

[Retrochic]

They were probably too hot in your kitchen if they had been raised to be put outside. I find the best herbs to buy in the Winter , for your kitchen window, are those in pots in supermarkets. If however you put the ones from Homebase in the garden, then depending where you live they have maybe had a frost on them. The rosemary in my garden usually lasts the winter but the thyme and sage tend to die back then sprout back up in the warmer weather.

[MTbowels]

Tell us about the conditions they were growing in. Were they on a windowsill? In shade? If they were in the kitchen, it's far from ideal due to the heat and steam etc.

[Togo]

I have rosemary, tarragon, oregano, sage, parsley, and thyme in a heavy duty stoneware trough outside. When I filled it I made sure that I mixed small aggregate grit and sand with good top soil. After planting the herbs I covered the 'soil' with white Cambridge spar(the stuff used for pebble dashing). The trough is in full sun and I very rarely water it and give it a spring feed with general tomato plant type fertilizer. In a week or two depending on the weather I will cut everything right down to nothing and remove all debris and old growth and leaves. In the 4 years or so that it has been in situ I have only ever had to replace the Parsley, due to a heavy prolonged frost( I now cover it if that event seems likely). It is a joy to have, with little care or maintenance required after the initial effort, for the gift of fresh herbs all summer and most of the winter. Oregano, Thyme and Taragon are brilliant for salads and dressings.

[grasscarp]

I bought a small growing pot of Rosemary from supermarket for a pound or so. Planted it outside a year ago. I now have a huge Rosemary bush growing outside the front door.

[Ric.ror]

They were in the kitchen - I have to add though that I VERY rarely use the kitchen - I even plucked the herbs to use in someone elses kitchen

[TonyV]

Guess they got to cold

[Ric.ror]

Who knew a woody herb like Rosemary would be so sensitive