I would recommend planting them in pots and burying the pots in your garden bed since it's in a sheltered spot. You should be able to just cover them with straw just like the other plants. I wouldn't cut the foliage back unless it looks like it could possibly have diseases.

You can add me to the list of folks that tries every year to overwinter herbs indoors. I have a nice perennial herb bed, but to give up fresh herbs for five months of the year is depressing to me, so I bring in as many as I can with mixed results. My rosemary is on its third winter, and though it looks a little disgruntled by springtime, it recoups nicely over the summer months. Parsley does very well for me in the kitchen window, and I've had some success with oregano. Each year I try basil and marjoram, and each year they die a slow and painful death. You'd think I'd learn. Oh, and that invasive weed known as mint ... I can't keep it alive, LOL. I've tried letting it overwinter on the porch, in the garage, in the house. Doesn't matter, it never comes back for me, but I don't dare plant it in the ground for fear it will take over. Ken, I agree about the dryness indoors in winter, but where I live, the plants should be used to it. Our humidity levels are extremely low all year round. I've thought about starting some herb seeds indoors in the fall, to see if I have any luck that way. Bonnie

It IS a campanula or bellflower. It is a form of Dalmatian bellflower, Campanula portenschlagiana 'Get Mee'. These are often found in grocery stores as potted gift plants and can be enjoyed indoors then planted in the garden. Indoors, provide bright but indirect light and avoid high heat. Keep soil moist. Outdoors plant in full to partial sun. These are very hardy garden perennials.

I just figured out the easiest way to do mine. We have strong winds at times, but the house will shelter some of it. My half gallon jugs, I thought I'd cut the right length of twine or some nylon cord and tie easy loops in each end. Then I'll wrap the twine around all the jugs and use a twistie to secure the loops, tying them all together. May do another level of it in case it slips down, can run the twine through the handles of the jugs on the perimeter. I hope it will work. I can easily open it up to check plants more closely, read labels, or move the whole group, etc., and just twist them back together again. I guess I can just pick out any jug in the group, lift it up, inspect it, deal with anything needed, and just slip it back in again without untying. When I get to the pepsi bottles, I may do the same thing rather than try to stick them in a box or burn holes in something I'd rather not. As I start planting out, I can just shorten the twine and tie another loop at one end and twist together again. I'm just setting them on the sidewalk for now, hope they'll drain ok, probably better than they would have when I set them on the ground. The ground can get saturated from melting snow and cause the water in the jugs not to drain very well or maybe I'm wrong about that.