I have pots, and a patio, and I would like to grow herbs

[NewOrImproved]

I know it's October - but is there anything I could plant now (from a small plant, not from seed) that would be happy to live outside all winter?

Or should I just start in the spring?

Not an expert here, but I've got things like Rosemary and Thyme outside in pots at the moment and they're surviving OK. More fleshy plants (oregano, basil etc) might not fare so well.

I'm about to plant some herbs and was actually wondering what other things will do well in small borders as well..

Someone who knows what they're talkinabout will be along soon I'm sure

All our herbs are happy outside all winter, so I guess if you got some already well-established plants, you'd most likely be fine. There won't be much growth, though, until spring.

We grow rosemary, savory (delicious), thyme, sage, chives, bay, oregano and marjoram (much the same plants). And mint in a pot. Lovage and fennel too, but they're huge.

Rosemary would be fine. I'm not sure about thyme. What IS fun if you could plant lettuce - just sprinkle some seeds on the pot and they should happily grow through winter. Replace with basil/parsley whatever you like in the spring.

What kind of lettuce? Tasty ones?

most lettuce I think - if you have a look at the seed packets, some say plant up until October (you can get away with planting them later). Easy & fun way to feel you're growing something through the winter!

ps - google 'winter lettuce'

So basically most herbs might surivive the frost, but woody/sturdy-looking ones will do better?

Well-established plants will die back in winter (well, not rosemary, generally) and can look quite dead, but then in spring you get loads of tiny beads of green and they come back - very satisfying. I'm thinking of oregano and thyme specifically. I'd worry about putting a small plant in a pot right now and hoping for the best. But the really cold weather doesn't start until Christmas up here, so I'd do it anyway and just wait and see. [maverick]

A general rule is that plants that aren't woody at their base are herbaceous - meaning they die back for winter and re-emerge in the spring. Woody based plants don't - so rosemary will do fine during the winter, i would expect parsley etc to die back, but I'm only a recent gardening convert so I'm not ENTIRELY sure...

Also, consider a Bay. Rocket can also be hardy and go on & on from one year to the next.