How to Grow Summer Savory From Seed

Summer savory is a quick, warm-season annual. Direct-sow it outdoors after all danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed, or start it indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost and set out the young plants once it is mild. Because it matures in just 60 to 70 days, you can sow a fresh short row every few weeks for a steady supply of tender leaves right through summer.

Summer savory seeds are small and need light to germinate, so sow them shallow. Scatter them about an eighth of an inch deep, or press onto the surface and barely cover, in light, well-drained soil in full sun. Keep the surface evenly moist at 60 to 70F and seedlings appear in about 10 to 15 days. Thin them to 6 to 10 inches apart in rows around 18 inches apart. It grows just as happily in a pot on a sunny sill.

Summer savory is low-fuss. Water when the top of the soil dries, keeping it evenly moist but never waterlogged, and go easy on feeding, since lean soil gives the most aromatic leaves. Pinch the growing tips of young plants to encourage a bushy shape, and harvest often to keep tender new growth coming. Good airflow between plants helps prevent the mildew that can affect crowded, damp herbs. Remember it is a frost-tender annual: it thrives once nights warm up and the first hard fall frost kills it outright, so from the Upper Midwest to New England you get roughly late spring through the first frost, while gardeners in the South and Southwest enjoy a longer run. Do not rush it into cold spring soil.

Summer savory has long been called the bean herb, and gardeners plant it beside beans and onions, where it is said to improve their flavor and help repel bean beetles. These four make especially good companions, and you can add any of them in one click:

Begin picking sprigs once plants reach about 6 inches tall, taking a few stems as you need them. The flavor is richest just as the flower buds start to form, so that is the moment to cut whole stems for drying, never more than about a third of the plant at once. To dry, hang small bundles upside down somewhere warm and airy, then strip the leaves and store them in an airtight jar for winter cooking.

Summer savory has a warm, peppery, thyme-and-marjoram flavor and has long been the go-to bean herb. Add it to fresh or dried beans, lentils, and peas, where it deepens the flavor and, by tradition, helps make them easier to digest. It also seasons stuffings, sausages, soups, roasts, and egg dishes, and is one of the herbs in herbes de Provence. Snip it fresh through summer and dry a jarful to carry the flavor into winter.

• Poor germination: the seeds need light, so sow shallow and never bury them deep, and keep the surface from drying out.
• Damping off: overwatered seedlings can rot at the base. Sow in well-drained mix, water gently, and give good airflow.
• Powdery mildew: appears on crowded, damp plants. Space them well, water at the base, and harvest regularly to open them up.
• Leggy, sparse plants: usually too little sun or too rich a soil. Grow in full sun and lean soil, and pinch young tips for bushiness.