Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Creeping Winter Savory (Satureja montana subsp. illyrica)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

More about creeping winter savory

About Creeping Winter Savory

Satureja montana subsp. illyrica · herb

Creeping winter savory is a low, spreading evergreen form of winter savory with small glossy aromatic leaves and pale lilac-to-white flowers loved by bees. Its peppery, thyme-like flavour suits beans and meats. A tough Mediterranean groundcover, it thrives in poor, dry, sunny sites and makes excellent edging or rock-garden planting.

Cold limit: USDA 5-8 · RHS H5 (7-28°C)

Watch for — Root and stem rot in wet soil: Heavy, soggy ground kills the spreading stems. Plant in gritty, sharply drained soil and avoid winter waterlogging.

What creeping winter savory's hardiness rating actually means

Yes — creeping winter savory is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H5 and USDA 5-8, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. Its RHS rating of H5 means: Hardy in most of the UK and in cold winters. On the US scale that maps to USDA 5-8 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −15 to −10 °C. Creeping Winter Savory is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

Concretely, for creeping winter savory as it gets too cold:

It tolerates winter lows to about −15 to −10 °C once established.
Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root.
First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.

Can creeping winter savory go outside or overwinter — and where?

Plant it out within USDA 5-8 and it overwinters with little or no help.
It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy.
The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when creeping winter savory can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H5 figure above.

Creeping Winter Savory hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is creeping winter savory cold hardy?

Yes — creeping winter savory is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H5 and USDA 5-8, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. An outdoor plant. Creeping Winter Savory is hardy across USDA 5-8; it belongs in the ground or a frost-proof container, not on a windowsill, and many types actively need a cold winter to perform.

What is the minimum temperature creeping winter savory can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −15 to −10 °C. Creeping Winter Savory is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

What hardiness zone is creeping winter savory?

Creeping Winter Savory is rated USDA 5-8 and RHS H5 — Hardy in most of the UK and in cold winters.

Can creeping winter savory survive winter outside?

Plant it out within USDA 5-8 and it overwinters with little or no help. It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy. The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

What happens to creeping winter savory below its minimum temperature?

It tolerates winter lows to about −15 to −10 °C once established. Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root. First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.