Thyme the Herb in your Garden
By
Thyme Plant in a Pot
Thyme is one of the easiest herb to grow and the hardest one to get ride of once you get it started!
It is related to the mint family which is why it is so hardy. Some varieties of thyme that are in my garden last all winter long, other’s get kind of crunchy so I just trim them all the way back to where you see the healthy flexible stalks.
It thrives in a hot sunny location and doesn’t require much water once it’s established. The low growing varieties are great if you place them between flagstones for a walkway… it will squeeze out the weeds and discourages ants…. I assume they don’t like the smell. The creeping types really added great character to my new rather bland garden walls. (I’ll post my before and after photo’s once the snow clears)
I love to use it fresh in a variety of dishes and it’s one of the herbs that keeps it’s flavor even after it dries. See some of my favorite recipes at my cooking site Chrissy Cooks!
There are many varieties and each has a fabulous flavor, color and different growing habits. The more you cut it back, the bushier and healthier it gets so trim it up regularly for cooking. I love the scent of fresh herbs in my kitchen so I’ll gather them up as I’m cutting flowers to bring indoors for my bouquets.
There are a bunch of different type of thyme including:
- English thyme — the most common
- Lemon thyme — smells of lemons
- Variegated lemon thyme — with bi-colour leaves
- Orange thyme — an unusually low-growing, ground cover thyme that smells like orange
- Creeping thyme — the lowest-growing of the widely used thymes, good for walkways
- Silver thyme — white/cream variegate
- Summer thyme — unusually strong flavor
- Purple thyme — This is the variety I have grown and creeping down my garden bricks
I love to plant thyme along pathways where you bump against it as you wander by which releases the fresh scents. I also found interesting history and medicinal uses for Thyme at Wikipedia
13 Comments
April 20th, 2009 at 5:48 am
Hey Chris! Great blog, my friend. Years ago I planted Mother of Thyme that I grew from seed. Even though I love the smell, it was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made…and I’ve made some whoppers! It takes everything I have to keep it from spreading all over my planting beds and walkways.
I do have both Minus Thyme and Elfin Thyme, which I love, for slow growing, dense mats planted in my walkway. Perfect for keeping under control. I also love Lemon Thyme, just like you said…it smells of lemons when you brush against it.
April 20th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Oh, and….HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
April 20th, 2009 at 6:49 am
My biggie garden eating monster was catnip!! Oh MY did it multiply. I did have some funny adventures watching my cat’s and several neighboring cat friends come and partake of the “Kitty Koke” as we dubbed it, and leap and bounce around the yard after rubbing through our catnip jungle. Now I plant that and mint ONLY where I don’t care if it takes over or in tidy pots in the garden or on the patio! Thanks for visiting me!
April 20th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Thanks for the birthday wishes! I am currently in Albuquerque NM headed to AZ for some birthday sun and fun! It’s funny, we were just eating our Free La Quinta breakfast inside this gorgeous green courtyard surrounded by HUGE year round Rosemary plants with some lavender interspersed. Talk about herb garden heaven and the scent.. WOW!
May 21st, 2009 at 11:06 pm
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Thyme In My Garden Posted by root 6 days ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) Artsey techie cat lover photo freak wine taster lover of god please feel free to comment if anything resonates with you talk about herb garden heaven and the scent wow flexx theme by ithemes powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | thyme the herb in your garden thyme in my garden [...]
May 31st, 2009 at 8:52 pm
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Posted by root 13 minutes ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) The low growing varieties are great if you place them between flagstones for a free to comment if anything resonates with you talk about herb garden heaven and the scent wow flexx theme by ithemes powered by wordpress discuss bury Discuss | Bury | News | Thyme the Herb in your Garden [...]
May 31st, 2009 at 10:20 pm
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Posted by root 2 minutes ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) Feel free to comment if anything resonates with you talk about herb garden heaven and the scent wow flexx theme by ithemes powered by wordpress discuss Discuss | Bury | News | Thyme the Herb in your Garden [...]
June 1st, 2009 at 3:15 am
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Posted by root 10 minutes ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) Thyme is one of the easiest herb to grow and the hardest one to get ride of free to comment if anything resonates with you talk about herb garden heaven and the scent wow flexx theme by ithemes powered by wordpress discuss bury Discuss | Bury | News | Thyme the Herb in your Garden [...]
June 1st, 2009 at 4:31 am
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Posted by root 18 minutes ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) Thyme is one of the easiest herb to grow and the hardest one to get ride of free to comment if anything resonates with you talk about herb garden heaven and the scent wow flexx theme by ithemes powered by wordpress discuss bury Discuss | Bury | News | Thyme the Herb in your Garden [...]
June 7th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Posted by root 5 hours ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) Please feel free to comment if anything resonates with you by ithemes powered by wordpress discuss bury news thyme the herb in your garden thyme Discuss | Bury | News | Thyme the Herb in your Garden [...]
June 8th, 2009 at 11:31 am
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Posted by root 17 minutes ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) Please feel free to comment if anything resonates with you heaven and the scent wow flexx theme by ithemes powered by wordpress discuss bury http bit ly 14vr4i have high blood pressure muscle pain bones ache read this Discuss | Bury | News | Thyme the Herb in your Garden [...]
June 8th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Posted by root 16 minutes ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) Please feel free to comment if anything resonates with you by ithemes powered by wordpress discuss bury news thyme the herb in your garden thyme Discuss | Bury | News | Thyme the Herb in your Garden [...]
June 14th, 2009 at 6:20 am
[...] Thyme the Herb in your Garden Posted by root 15 minutes ago (http://www.thymeinmygarden.com) Thyme the herb in your garden thyme in my garden garden benches free to comment if anything resonates with you by ithemes powered by wordpress discuss Discuss | Bury | News | Thyme the Herb in your Garden [...]