You would think that planting outdoor herbs would be easy, right? I mean, they’re just little plants… how hard can it be? Well, guess what folks, I was wrong! This week, I managed to kill my spring parsley plants before I even got them in the pot!
My story goes like this: I was trying to keep them healthy by leaving them out during the day and bringing them in at night. What I didn’t realize is that the temperature difference from outdoors to in was too extreme and I likely stressed the plants. Obviously, this is entirely my own fault and I may have purchased my plants a bit too early (we’re having an unusually cold spring here in Ontario). I think I may have been better off planting them immediately and then protecting them from frost while outside.
If you’ve already left your plants outside and they did freeze, this article may help you and your little greenies out.
Planting Outdoor Herbs for the Non-Gardner
Clearly, I do not have a green thumb. I even wrote a blog post to provide my readers with alternatives to plants for their home. I don’t want to be a plant-killer. At the same time I REALLY love having fresh herbs available during the summer months. So, I went out to gather as much info from around the web as I possibly could and put together this quick reference guide that I’m now sharing with you.
While this is by no means a definitive guide — and I do highly recommend that you Google your particular herb types to learn more about them — it’s a good place to start and will give you some basic guidelines. Growing plants outdoors depends on a number of factors including climate zone, ground vs container planting, fertilizer, etc.
I normally have pretty good luck with my outdoor herbs when I follow these basic temperature guidelines. I hope you do too!!
Outdoor Herb Infographic: Temperature Tolerance & Sun Conditions
Do you enjoy fresh herbs? What’s your favourite? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll post some recipes in a future post using the most common herbs.
Happy Planting!
