How to grow sage

Sage is a woody Mediterranean perennial that anchors the herb bed for years rather than needing to be replanted each spring. The gray-green, pebbly-textured leaves hold their pungent flavor through the season and season pork, poultry, sausage, and fall vegetables. Left alone the plant grows into a low, sprawling shrub two to three feet across, topped with spikes of purple flowers in midsummer. North Carolina State and Illinois Extension both list it hardy from USDA zone 4a into zone 8b, and gardeners plant it expecting it to shrug off winter.

The hardest part of growing sage well is drainage, not cold. North Carolina State Extension notes the plant is intolerant of wet or poorly drained soils and lists root rot among its common problems, while Illinois Extension adds that surviving as a perennial depends on very well-drained soil, especially over winter. A second-year gardener who tucks sage into a vegetable bed built up with compost and watered on a tomato schedule gives it the soggy winter root zone it cannot tolerate. The herb meant to be the one permanent fixture in the bed rots out over winter instead, and needs replacing every spring.