into the ground

Planted out my potted herbs, good hopes that they'll overwinter. I've got into the ground the Sage

one tiny surviving Oregano

and the Lemon Balm

flanked by the Pepper/Spearmint plants sunk in pots

and the Chocolate Mint sunk in a pot in front.

They all look so much smaller planted out.

Whoever warned me that Mint is a notorious spreader was not kidding. I was amazed at how thick the root masses were when I upended these pots. I had to knock them several times and tug on the stems to get the plants free of their pots! Wish I'd taken a photo but I didn't have the camera outside and working quickly to get done before the baby finished her nap. But they were just as rootbound as my original spider plant, if not more. Most of them had thick roots coiled around the top of pot rim, and long searching ones going out of the drain holes.

And these plants were just cuttings four months ago, stems broken off or yanked out of the ground. I've never seen growth so vigorous. I'm worried now that the pots won't contain them; that a piece of root will sneak out over the pot rim, or a root escaping through a drain hole down there in the soil will send up a long shoot, or that eventually the pots will crack (they're plastic) and the plant will find its way out...

I guess if eventually they start coming up outside their bounds I'll simply dig them out again and re-pot onto the porch. I do kind of miss their presence near the door already, I liked rubbing their leaves for the scent when I went in/out of the house.