The last gasps of my garden

The Italian flat leaf parsley is still going strong as well as the sage. I am surprised it has lasted this long. Hope it lasts until Thanksgiving. Anyone still gathering anything to eat now?

we got some volunteer cilantro that holding on.
just yanked 8 bell pepper plants most with a fair amount of green peppers (very little flavor)

We still have chard, kale and radicchio going strong in our community garden plot. Thyme, oregano and sage still in great shape at home. Given the snow free forecast, looks like we might make it through to the end of November...

Hi- Greens like kale and collards and mustard greens survive when it gets down below 20. One year I picked collards in my garden in January.

When I was getting ready to leave the garden I rent from the city of Evanston on Saturday, I opened up one of the garden waste carts to throw away the plants I pulled from my garden. I immediately spotted a bunch of kale plants that had just been thrown in there, and still had lots of kale free for the picking. The person that threw away the plants, picked a few leaves for herself, and just assumed that nobody would want the rest of them. As I was digging out the kale plants, her friend threw in a swiss chard plant, which I immediately grabbed. As I was walking to my car with a half bushel of free greens, I told her to leave them out on the picnic table next time, and somebody would take them home. I also told her that chard and kale would last until at least December 1st in her garden. Hope this helps, Nancy

Good to know. Unfortunately the rabbits ate my chard so I did not get to get any. I will have to plan for next year. I like the idea of harvesting some stuff in Nov.

My garden is still going strong, bless its heart. My serranos are still flowering, the chard is so show-stoppingly lovely that people stop and gawk at it while strolling by, and the only herbs I've yanked are the various basils. I have new dill and chervil everywhere, and just transplanted a potted thyme into the thyme border in the front garden. And the sage is a freakin' bush! Life is good.

Just picked about 2 pints of raspberries last weekend. Took a cucumber off the dead vine last night. Brussels sprouts still growing. Herbs are fine. Celery was fine until last night....I'll have to check on that. Salad greens I whacked back in June grew back (from seed?) and are about ready. carrots are going crazy.

We have sage and rosemary, both of which will hang on all winter. They are up against a south facing brick wall along side the back porch.

My sage is definitely hardy -- last winter I'd pull leaves off in February. They're a little woody but still beat dried by a long shot.
I've had no luck overwintering rosemary or thyme, both of which are supposed to be perennials in this climate. So this year, a small windowbox-like tray of herbs came in from the cold in late october, and is sitting in a south-facing window. The basil has perked up and is showing new leaves, and the thyme, rosemary and chives are all pretty robust.

Sage, chives, rosemary and oregano. Regrowth Italian parsely. (west wall exposure) One big celery plant, some green onions and hungarian pepper buds (north exposure). Some regrowth cabbage. Just picked the last of the broccoli. I still have big green tomatoes on hearty vines-wonder if I should take them down now and see if they ripen in a paper bag or or on the sill.

I've had no luck overwintering rosemary or thyme, both of which are supposed to be perennials in this climate.

Sadly, rosemary is only reliably winter-hardy to about Zone 7 - meaning roughly the latitude of Arkansas. Remember, it's a native of the Mediterranean, and so doesn't like either snow or excessive water. Thyme is quite a bit more hardy - it is officially a Zone 5-hardy plant, meaning here. Depends where you plant it, though.

sundevilpeg wrote:

I've had no luck overwintering rosemary or thyme, both of which are supposed to be perennials in this climate.

Sadly, rosemary is only reliably winter-hardy to about Zone 7 - meaning roughly the latitude of Arkansas. Remember, it's a native of the Mediterranean, and so doesn't like either snow or excessive water. Thyme is quite a bit more hardy - it is officially a Zone 5-hardy plant, meaning here. Depends where you plant it, though.

I've tried both with and without a rose cone, and the thyme died off both times. It's indoors now, no problem.

I've tried both with and without a rose cone

Just my opinion, but to me, rose cones are not only not helpful, but downright harmful - even for roses. Straw mulch is the way to go for protection, but ONLY after the ground is cold and hard. I actually am currently driving around with a half-bale in the trunk of my car.

Rose cones are good for nothing, apart from perhaps as a large croquembouche mold.

Swiss Chard, Brussels sprouts, beets, celeriac, parsnips, various herbs (parsley, sage, thyme, savory, oregano, lavender) all still in the ground. Cover blew off one pepper plant the other night so it's looking a bit peaked but it's right next to a south-facing brick wall and might hang on a couple more days.

I never have trouble overwintering thyme in the ground but bring the rosemary (potted) in every winter and stick it in a south facing window. I keep the house fairly cool most of the time (65 or so) so it does pretty well and should be flowering soon.

Brought the rosemary plants in, have some marjoram going in a cold frame. Just took out the last of the onions. Still in the ground, some carrots, shallots, salsify, parsley root. I hope the mulched garlic comes thru the winter.

Surprisingly, some lettuce survives in a large chimney tile I have as a raised planter. The Italian parsley I overwintered last year, and let go to seed has continued to thrive. A single plant is now a spray 2' wide and high, with immense leaves. They are becoming sweet.

Plenty of hardy sage and thyme. I doubled the chive beds, and they are thick and green.

Still picking some arugula that I have not spaded under yet.

We picked some fresh rosemary and sage from our deck pots yesterday to use with Christmas dinner.

The sage in my perennial/herb garden is still chugging along, as is my still-outdoors potted rosemary. And even though we've had a couple of modest but measurable snowfalls, I still have some potted snapdragons blooming out there! Extraordinary. Pansies or hardy mums, I could see - but snaps??

At Christmas, we still had small amounts of parsley and nepitella; at that time still thriving were sage, savoury, thyme and rosemary. Now we're down to the last three and despite the recent cold snap they are in very good condition; a few sage leaves have survived as well. We cover the herbs every night with a couple of layers of sheets.

Antonius