Is parsley winter-hardy?

I am very keen on parsley, so this autumn I transplanted most of my plants into pots and put them in the windowsills. Where they survived.
However, the ones I left outside survived as well, and look a lot happier. Some nights I protected them when a frost was expected, but sometimes I forgot. Plus in January I went away for three weeks, and my husband left them to it.
Is parsley really winter hardy, or should I bring them in again next year?

 

Parsley is tough as old boots. I've harvested it in conditions where I've had to knock the snow and ice off it to get to it.

Once parsley has established, don't move it. It forms a tap root so unless you can dig very deep, you are certain to do extensive damage to its roots if you dig it up. I think that's also why parsley grows about 1ft tall in pots, and about 4 or 5 ft in open ground.

 

So I can save myself the trouble next year. A pity it will start bolting soon!
Thanks, not-so-clueless,
Annemieke Wigmore, Somerset UK: http://thoughtforfood-aw.blogspot.com

 

It'll run to seed in the second year, thats why its normally just treated like an annual.

 

Cross posted there

 

Regular harvesting, even if you don't need any, delays flowering but not forever. It does go a bit tough though in the second year, but I like the texture.

 

Thanks all, I've put them all back in the soil. No more watering!
Next thing: start off new plants for when these bolt. I'm no good at sowing it somehow. Isn't there a saying about women, trousers, parsley and cockerels, or was that Dutch?
Annemieke Wigmore, Somerset UK: http://thoughtforfood-aw.blogspot.com

 

Well, women get a mention, at least! I'll have to try that one about the enemies.

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/flowers/p.html

 

Enemies?

Annemieke Wigmore, Somerset UK: http://thoughtforfood-aw.blogspot.com

 

You can kill your enemies by saying a person's name whilst plucking a sprig of parsley. Apparently.

 

Is that when your enemy has slipped off the edge of a great drop and managed to grab your parsley as they fell, and as they cling on for dear life, you say their name and pluck the very piece of parsley they have hold off?

Or maybe, they are standing behind you as you are about to pick it, and in a seemingly unrelated thing an angry horse has broken free and is heading their way. Its ok though, the horse will just miss them but oh no, they were distracted when they heard you say their name and looking round, just as the sprig came away suddenly and you accidentally stab them in the eye with it, causing them to stumble backwards, right into the path of the angry horse?

 

Below is copied from Madahhlias link on Parsley. It seems a jolly little plant

In England it was believed that:
Parsley grows for the wicked, but not for the just.
A parsley field will bring a man to his saddle and a woman to her grave.
When parsley's grown in the garden, there'll be a death before the year's out.
To dream of cutting parsley is a bad omen as the dreamer will be ~crossed in love.~
In Devonshire it's believed that transplanting parsley brings bad luck and the owner or his family will be punished within the year.
Medieval Europeans believed that one could kill an enemy by plucking a sprig while speaking the person's name.

 

Oo, I tried to copy that earlier & the web page told me off???

 

I've found the saying I was looking for, no cockerels involved, nor any Dutch: "Parsley only grows well where the woman wears the trousers." So I always was happy that I wasn't very good with parsley. But that was until I got addicted to it. Had to get myself some trousers, now.

 

I've heard the same saying about Rosemary.