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balloonflower

Lemon Savory

balloonflower
10 years ago

I picked up a lemon savory plant the other day on a whim. I'm not familiar with this one, but liked the smell so I thought I'd get it and play.

Does anyone know if it's annual or perennial? It looks more like a winter savory, but it definitely has a lemon smell which intrigued me. I don't have a sci name on it.

Comments (8)

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    I know SAVORY. There are two kinds: (1) summer savory, which is annual and (2) winter savory which is perennial.
    But I have not heard the variety called "lemon"
    Savory has a taste and smell of its own. It ia bit tastes like tarragon, a bit like Thyme, marjoram. It goes well with spaghetti sauce, meat ball, stuffed bell pepper( and similar).
    It dries well and stay aromatic for a long time, like thyme.
    I have both summer and winter kinds.

  • barbe_wa
    10 years ago

    A few years ago I bought a lemon savory plant which was sold to me as an annual, but it's definitely a perennial and a rather aggressive one at that. I love it, but have to keep root pruning it every year to keep it in check. It's harder to contain than the winter savory I also grow.

  • balloonflower
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hmmm...wonder if it's more tender than my zone 5. I did manage to overwinter a rosemary, but it did lose all foliage and is coming back, but won't amount to anything major this year. But, I'll put it in my community herb garden and see how I like it before deciding whether to pot some for winter.

    And, Seysonn--thank you. I am familiar with both winter and summer savory (and already had both planted this year), so the lemon one intrigued me. I have never heard of it till now, and I'll let you know how it does!

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    Thanks balloonflower

    Can would you mind posting a picture of your LEMON savory? I like to know how it looks.
    My winter savory, that I bought from nursery is doing fine. And I have close to 30 summer savories that grew from the seeds fallen from last years plants. They are about 4" now. I will post a picture tomorrow.
    ---------------------------------------------------
    p.s. I searched for pictures. I looks more like ROSEMARY than SAVORY. But the taste and aroma ? that is another thing. Cannot tell from pictures..

    This post was edited by seysonn on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 5:39

  • jll0306
    10 years ago

    Barbe...i have found a possible vendor of lemon savory near me. Since i am very interested in building my stock of perennial herbs, it looks like a good one for my climate which is actually closer to yours than to zone 9. Does yours stay outside all year? Does it die back in the winter?

    Thanks,
    jan

    This post was edited by jll0306 on Thu, Jun 6, 13 at 14:06

  • barbe_wa
    10 years ago

    My lemon savory stays outside all year - in my annual herb bed, unfortunately, since it was sold to me as an annual. It doesn't die back entirely in the winter, but the leaves get a bit ratty looking probably because of our cold, wet winter weather. I think it would stay better looking in a dryer climate.

  • balloonflower
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I'll post a pic as soon as I get it in the ground on Sunday. It looks like a winter savory, with slightly brighter green leaves, and not as pointed. Smell is rather similar to lemon thyme, though with a spicier 'kick'.

  • jaynine
    10 years ago

    The Thyme Garden Herb Company sells seeds. I've never heard of it before, either. Sounds like a good tea herb.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Lemon Savory seeds