A well-drained location is key to winter survival for sage. If you winter the pot outdoors definitely sink the pot to the soil line into the ground. The ground is needed to help insulate the roots from the cold.

Sage is a woody plant (like a tree) so no, do not chop it to the ground.

FataMorgana

Thanks, FataMorgana! I will do just that! First year with a garden so I'm full of questions ha ha

If the garden was fun this year, wait until next year! The perennials come back bigger and stronger. And spring is an exciting time when you see the green shoots of your plants awakening after months of grey and brown dominating the landscape.

Be sure to check out winter sowing. It is a great way to start seeds of many plants and most especially many of the plants and wildflowers native to North America. It is a great way to make gardening dollars stretch.

FataMorgana

Now is also a good time to dry age... just in case:

Wash it off;
Pat or spin it dry;
Lay out in a single layer on top of paper towel;
place in safe, dry spot;
collect and store in glass jar when dry.

I was born and raised in Michigan and on one farm we had a sage plant that may have been well over 20 years old which never had any care what so ever and was about 3 foot by 2 foot wide. Quite woody but produced lots of leaves for seasoning with great flavor.

Yes, I once had a sage plant that came back year after year. Finally died during a really rainy summer. And some people will tell you sage is a biennial. Bah!

It is a perennial here but not long-lived. I think 10 years is about the longest I've had a sage plant live.

FataMorgana

Oh dear, mine was moved to our new house in 2007 and tucked into a bed that didn't get a lot of sun so in 2008 after renovations settled down, I moved it to a good sunny location next to the driveway. My plant has gotten huge so I made an attempt to layer some of the branches last spring. I also tucked a lot of cuttings into a vegetable bed just in case any would take. (most didn't but one might have) The center stem is very gnarled so I wouldn't be surprised if it was getting too old.

Greetings! I am doing research to see what was already answered before posting questions. When does sage (and basil) need to come in temperature wise? I have two 40 oz peanut butter containers that will be moving back and forth between out in the cool temperature sun, and inside for the warm shade. There isn't enough real sun for them to grow - these sprouts are about 6 weeks old. (photobucket picture in the link)

Any other ideas to help them grow?

Here is a link that might be useful: picture of my sage and basil on the worktable

Your sage and basil are still seedlings and they badly need pricking out into individual pots. They are too close together and look as if they need a lot more light. Also you will find that growing plants in containers where the neck is narrower than the body will be a headache when you try to remove them. It might be easier to break the jars to get the plants out. Without knowing what temperatures you get where you live we can't tell you if they need to come in or not. But basil needs much higher temps than sage which is frost hardy. However, that applies to mature plants. Yours are babies and rather sickly babies at that, I'm afraid.

My sage thrives outside in my zone 5 Massachusetts garden. I harvest the leaves year round right before cooking with them.