Generally — Most Areas
winter savory (zones 5-8) suits most of Montana (3a-6b) — zones 5-6 are in range, and the rest of the state is the exception.
Winter Savory in Montana — the short answer
Winter Savory in Montana: hardy in zones 5–8, full sun.
- Plant zones
- 5-8
- Not verified — NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists zones 5a–10b
- Montana zones
- 3a-6b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- May 2 - May 13 – Sep 28 - Oct 7
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 59 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.
Montana spans zones 3a-6b, 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
Montana is not one climate
Montana’s winter-low ladder runs across 56 counties, from zone 3.5 in Daniels County to zone 6 in Sanders County. That is 25°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 56 counties runs 4–5 zones, with a median of 4.5 zones — a 2.5-zone span end to end.
Measured across 56 Montana 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 Montana Fits Best
Winter Savory is rated for zones 5–8 — a cold floor USDA puts at -20 to -10°F. Against Montana’s 56 counties that band holds in 17 of them, and the line runs at Beaverhead County (zone 5a), the coldest county still inside it.
Inside zones 5–8
17 counties
- Carbon County · zone 5a
- Gallatin County · zone 5a
- Granite County · zone 5a
3 of 17 shown
Below the zone 5 floor
39 counties
- Daniels County · zone 3b
- Roosevelt County · zone 3b
- Sheridan County · zone 3b
3 of 39 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 Montana's zones 3a-6b, 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.
Montana Has
- USDA Zones: 3a-6b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): May 2 - May 13
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Sep 28 - Oct 7
- Annual Rainfall: 10-20 inches
- Common Soils: Sandy loam, Clay, Glacial till
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 Montana
The frost window
Across Montana, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between May 2 and May 13, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Sep 28 and Oct 7 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 138-day window you can count on — up to 158 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 Montana's late-side last freeze of May 13 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 Montana 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 Montana — 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 Montana, 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 ~1769 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Montana'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 Montana's sandy loam and clay — 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 Montana soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Montana 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. Montana 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 Montana’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 Montana — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Montana — 11,382 documented sites across 7 of the 8 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 124 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Montana 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 Montana
Severity Distribution
across Montana
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Montana, two things run higher than the national average across Montana — Mining (4,319 sites) and Brownfields (805 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Mining: Mining sites — both historic and active — can leach heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury) into soil and water for centuries after operations cease.
Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties that EPA’s Brownfields program (ACRES) has assessed or funded cleanup on.
Test soil for heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury) — this is essential near any mining site.
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 Montana
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Montana growers also need to think about:
Very short growing season (60-100 frost-free days)
Low rainfall requires irrigation in most areas
Extreme winter cold (-40F possible)
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Montana grower, not just winter savory — is covered on the Montana growing guide.
Where in Montana Winter Savory Is Zone-Hardy
Winter Savory is rated for USDA zones 5–8. 17 of Montana’s 56 counties fall inside that band. The coldest that does is Beaverhead County at zone 5a. 39 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 Montana decides this one.
Across those 56 counties Montana’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 3b in Daniels County to zone 6a in Sanders County — 2.5 USDA zones of spread, which is 25°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. Deer Lodge County holds its last hard freeze (28°F) until about Jun 21, while Petroleum County is clear by Apr 25 — 57 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 Montana's frost window — roughly 151 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (May 2 - May 13) and closing at the first (Sep 28 - Oct 7), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Pollinator value: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Montana Cooperative Extension
For Montana-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for winter savory, the canonical source is Montana State University Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Winter Savory native to Montana?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Winter Savory as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Montana's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Montana natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Montana growing guide lists plants that USDA PLANTS records growing in Montana 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 Montana
When can I plant Winter Savory in Montana?
Montana's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between May 2 and May 13, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Sep 28 and Oct 7 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Winter Savory overwinters only from USDA zone 5 and warmer, and Montana runs as cold as zone 3, so it does not survive winter in the ground here — the question for Montana 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 Montana?
Montana spans USDA hardiness zones 3a-6b (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 Montana site have?
A typical Montana site sees ~151 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 Montana?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Winter Savory as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Montana's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Montana natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Winter Savory in Montana?
Winter Savory prefers pH 6-7.5 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That sits in the common-ground band across Montana 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 Montana?
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 Montana
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 Montana winter savory averages can't show:
We read public map data around Montana — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Montana winter savory average
Explore More
Growing guides for winter savory
Explore Montana county by county
Montana carries 56 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 Montana 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 Montana
Montana has a growing page for 748 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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