Thyme for All Seasons of Home Gardens
There are many types of thyme. Shopping for them can be an adventure, says edible garden expert Rosalind Creasy.
“Thyme has been around for so long and there are many selections,” she says. “It’s best to bruise the leaves and see what kind of aroma you get.”
The following varieties are popular and often available. Some can be used for cooking.
* Camphor thyme (T. camphoratus): Grows to 16 inches. Narrow leaves are highly aromatic. Has pink blossoms in late spring and summer.
* Caraway thyme (T. herba-barona): Fast-growing ground cover that forms thick, flat mat of dark green foliage that has a caraway fragrance and taste. Blooms rose-pink flowers in summer. Culinary.
* Doone valley (T. x citriodorus ‘Doone valley’): Unusual matting thyme with shiny, dark green foliage mottled with light gold. Good ground cover, releasing a lemon scent when walked on. Grows 3 to 5 inches tall. Lavender flowers in summer.
* English thyme (T. vulgaris): Also called common thyme, this upright growing thyme reaches 12 inches in height. Has small, gray-green foliage and in late spring to early summer is covered with dainty pale-pink flowers. Highly aromatic, it is the classic culinary thyme most often used in pizza and spaghetti sauces.
* Lemon thyme (T. x citriodorus): Small shrub, growing up to 18 inches with tiny green leaves. Foliage is not only strongly lemon-scented, but also tastes like lemons. Flowers are pale purple, blooming spring to summer. A variegated form is ‘Aureus,’ which is a golden color and lower growing. Culinary.
* Orange balsam: 6- to 8-inch-tall plant, spreading 16 inches. Foliage small, narrow and dark green. Stems have orange tinge, and foliage has a faint orange scent and taste. Blooms in summer with pale-pink or white flowers.
* Pink chintz (T. serpyllum ‘Pink chintz’): Tough, low-growing ground cover tolerates considerable foot traffic. Has dark olive-colored woolly leaves and salmon-pink flowers in spring and summer.
* Silver (T. x citriodorus ‘Argenteus’): Striking variegated, silver foliage. Twelve-inch tall mounded shrublet sports purple and white flowers in early summer.
* Wedgewood blue (T. vulgaris ‘Wedgewood blue’): Light green leaves are edged with a darker green color that creates a blue cast to the foliage. Small mounding plant, reaching 12 inches high and 2 feet wide. Has purple flowers in summer.
* Woolly thyme (T. pseudolanuginosus): Excellent ground cover, creating a flat to undulating mat of 2- to 3-inch-high foliage. Leaves are very small and gray with fuzzy hairs. Inconspicuous flowers are white to pale pink.
