Satureja montana

Common Name: Winter savory
Habit: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Lamiaceae
Range: Southern Europe
Height: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Color: White to lilac

Winter Savory is a dwarf, hardy, perennial, that grows 0.4 m tall. The stems are woody at the base, diffuse, much branched. Roundish, dark green leaves, less than an inch long, grow in pairs along the hollow branches. The leaves are narrow and stiffer than those of summer savory, and they have a spicy, resinous scent. Small purplish pink flowers are borne along the stems. It is in leaf all year, in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October.

k&w herbs
Culinary: Savory has a strong aromatic flavour very similar to thyme. It is less delicate than summer savory. Use fresh savory with vegetable dishes, egg and potato dishes, mushrooms, beans, and to flavor tomato sauce. Add minced fresh savory to mayonnaise and serve it as an accompaniment to poached fish. The leaves are used to flavor meat, fish, poultry, soups, stews, eggs, beans stuffings, and sausage.
It should not be cooked but be added shortly before serving, otherwise the dish could become slightly bitter. The leaves can be used fresh or dried. A herb tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves. The leaves are harvested just before the plant comes into flower.
Medicinal: Winter savory is most often used as a culinary herb, but it also has marked medicinal benefits, especially upon the whole digestive system. A nice tea can be brewed from the flowering tips. It helps your digestion, if you suffer from gases, it is appetizing and helpful against stomach and intestinal problems. The whole herb, and especially the flowering shoots, is mildly antiseptic, aromatic, carminative, digestive, mildly expectorant and stomachic. Taken internally, it is said to be a sovereign remedy for colic and a cure for flatulence, whilst it is also used to treat gastro-enteritis, cystitis, nausea, diarrhoea, bronchial congestions, sore throat and menstrual disorders. A sprig of the plant, rubbed onto bee or wasp stings, brings instant relief. The essential oil forms an ingredient in lotions for the scalp in cases of incipient baldness. An ointment made from the plant is used externally to relieve arthritic joints. The plant is harvested in the summer when in flower and can be used fresh or dried.
Industrial: This herb is excellent to use in a steam bath for your face and in the bath if your skin is oily.
The growing plant repels insects. Plants can be grown as a ground cover when spaced about 45 cm apart each way.