Generally — Most Areas
winter savory (zones 5-8) suits most of Maine (3b-7a) — zones 5-7 are in range, and the rest of the state is the exception.
Winter Savory in Maine — the short answer
Winter Savory in Maine: hardy in zones 5–8, full sun.
- Plant zones
- 5-8
- Not verified — NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists zones 5a–10b
- Maine zones
- 3b-7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 16 - May 3 – Oct 10 - Oct 24
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 143 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- Days to maturity
- 100 days
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Maine spans zones 3b-7a, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score winter savory against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your parcel report in seconds — read in full free for your first 14 days
Maine is not one climate
Maine’s winter-low ladder runs across 16 counties, from zone 4 in Aroostook County to zone 6 in Lincoln County. That is 20°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between winter savory overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 16 counties runs 4.5–5.5 zones, with a median of 5.5 zones — a 2-zone span end to end.
Measured across 16 Maine counties. USDA PHZM 2023, per county. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where in Maine Fits Best
Winter Savory is rated for zones 5–8 — a cold floor USDA puts at -20 to -10°F. Against Maine’s 16 counties that band holds in 12 of them, and the line runs at Oxford County (zone 5a), the coldest county still inside it.
Inside zones 5–8
12 counties
- Penobscot County · zone 5a
- Androscoggin County · zone 5b
- Cumberland County · zone 5b
3 of 12 shown
Below the zone 5 floor
4 counties
- Aroostook County · zone 4a
- Franklin County · zone 4b
- Piscataquis County · zone 4b
3 of 4 shown
Winter cold is the limit here — the same plant works in a container that comes under cover.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Even within Maine's zones 3b-7a, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for winter savory (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
Winter Savory Needs
- USDA Zones: 5-8
- Sun: Full Sun
- Mature size: 1 ft tallWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Picking window: ~90 days of harvestWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Drought tolerance: HighWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Maine Has
- USDA Zones: 3b-7a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 16 - May 3
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 10 - Oct 24
- Annual Rainfall: 36-50 inches
- Common Soils: Glacial till, Sandy loam, Rocky loam
Plant Zone Range (zones 5-8)
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Winter Savory in Maine
The frost window
Across Maine, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 16 and May 3, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 10 and Oct 24 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 160-day window you can count on — up to 191 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
When to start the seed
Those dates are when winter savory goes out, not when it starts. It is sown under cover about 8 weeks ahead, so counting back from Maine's late-side last freeze of May 3 is what fixes your sowing date — and a yard that clears frost earlier than the state's late date starts earlier still.
Winter standing
Winter Savory overwinters from USDA zone 5 and warmer (NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox), and Maine runs as cold as zone 3, so it does not survive winter in the ground here. It is a woody plant rather than a crop you resow each spring, so neither a fall establishment date nor a harvest countdown describes it in Maine — which is why this page gives neither. What it needs here is a way through winter, not a planting date.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
The zone check says winter savory survives winter in part of Maine, not across all of it. Whether the season is long enough — and warm enough — is a different question.
Growing degree days
Winter Savory needs ~900 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. The state median runs ~1450 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Maine's typical season clears that easily.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Winter Savory likes near-neutral soil (pH 6-7.5). That's the common-ground band across Maine's glacial till and sandy loam — a soil test confirms it for your site. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 6.5 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Maine soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Maine site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, a raised bed lifts the roots above wet ground, or work in compost.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Maine soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant winter savory for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before winter savory goes in. What follows is Maine’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Maine — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Maine — 7,879 documented sites across 7 of the 8 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 99 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Maine carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds of imported, lab-tested soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Maine
Severity Distribution
across Maine
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Maine, Brownfields runs higher than the national average — 961 sites across Maine. It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties that EPA’s Brownfields program (ACRES) has assessed or funded cleanup on.
Contact the EPA Brownfields program or the state cleanup agency for this site’s actual assessment/remediation status — ACRES itself does not publish one we can read per site.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 950K documented sites tracked nationwide across 8 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Winter Savory in Maine
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Maine growers also need to think about:
Very short growing season (100-140 frost-free days)
Rocky glacial soils require significant clearing
Harsh winters with heavy snow and ice
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Maine grower, not just winter savory — is covered on the Maine growing guide.
Where in Maine Winter Savory Is Zone-Hardy
Winter Savory is rated for USDA zones 5–8. 12 of Maine’s 16 counties fall inside that band. The coldest that does is Oxford County at zone 5a. 4 counties sit below the plant’s zone 5 floor, where an unprotected plant is relying on snow cover and a mild year. Where you are in Maine decides this one.
Across those 16 counties Maine’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 4a in Aroostook County to zone 6a in Lincoln County — 2 USDA zones of spread, which is 20°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. That is why a statewide hardiness answer is where you start and not where you finish.
The planting window moves with it. Piscataquis County holds its last hard freeze (28°F) until about May 15, while Knox County is clear by Apr 4 — 41 days apart. Set winter savory out on your county’s date, not the state’s.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. County last-freeze dates: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F killing freeze — earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost". Winter Savory’s zone 5–8 band: Not verified — NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists zones 5a–10b. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Winter Savory draws honeybees and native bees (moderate value). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, winter savory can only work that bloom inside Maine's frost window — roughly 182 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Apr 16 - May 3) and closing at the first (Oct 10 - Oct 24), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Pollinator value: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Maine Cooperative Extension
For Maine-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for winter savory, the canonical source is UMaine Cooperative Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Winter Savory native to Maine?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Winter Savory as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Maine's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Maine natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Maine growing guide lists plants that USDA PLANTS records growing in Maine and that Kew and NatureServe Explorer both list in its native range, leaving out any that NatureServe flags as exotic there or that our audit holds.
State records: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution data (presence, not state-level nativity), accessed 2026-10-19.
Common Questions About Growing Winter Savory in Maine
When can I plant Winter Savory in Maine?
Maine's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 16 and May 3, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 10 and Oct 24 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Winter Savory overwinters only from USDA zone 5 and warmer, and Maine runs as cold as zone 3, so it does not survive winter in the ground here — the question for Maine growers is how to carry it through winter under cover, not which week to plant it.
What hardiness zone is Winter Savory grown in across Maine?
Maine spans USDA hardiness zones 3b-7a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Winter Savory carries a range of zones 5-8, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Maine site have?
A typical Maine site sees ~182 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Winter Savory needs 210+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Is Winter Savory native to Maine?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Winter Savory as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Maine's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Maine natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Winter Savory in Maine?
Winter Savory prefers pH 6-7.5 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That sits in the common-ground band across Maine soils — a 30-minute soil test from a local Extension lab confirms it for your specific site.
Will Winter Savory actually grow on my specific land in Maine?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores winter savory against your address's mapped soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Maine
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores winter savory against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Maine winter savory averages can't show:
We read public map data around Maine — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Maine winter savory average
Explore More
Growing guides for winter savory
Explore Maine county by county
Maine carries 16 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for winter savory there:
Where else winter savory grows
Winter Savory's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Maine in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Maine
Maine has a growing page for 807 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Last updated: