How to Grow and Care for Thymes

While best known for culinary purposes, garden thyme has historically seen use in embalming rituals and as incense. In the kitchen, it most often ends up as a flavoring herb or brewed in tea. Garden thyme was gifted to warriors in the Middle Ages because it was supposed to spur courage and energy.

Creeping thyme is a perennial native to Northern Europe, Western Asia, and northern Africa. Its pink to purple bell-shaped flowers and blue-green leaves make it a popular ornamental plant. Because of its pleasant fragrance, it is also used in the production of perfumes. Throughout the Middle Ages, Thymus serpyllum was seen as an emblem of courage and strength.

Mother of thyme, or Creeping Thyme, is a flowering lawn substitute. It grows in low, dense mats and is hardy and deer resistant. This flowering herb is edible, like other species of Thyme, and has a mild, mint-like flavor. It grows easily and can be started by seed or division.

The lemon thyme (Thymus pulegioides) is widely distributed across Europe and northeastern North America. This small, bush-forming Thymus pulegioides is distinguished by its pleasant lemony smell. It can be found in meadows, sunny hillsides, rocky terrain, and along roads, and it is often cultivated in rock gardens. The lemon thyme is a well-known aromatic herb used for making flavored tea.

The stem is thin, crawls the ground, and branches well. The branches have short hairs, standing up to a height of 3 to 15 cm. Leaves grow against the stem. The leaf blades are oval to narrow, with a blunt tip, a length of 5 to 10 mm, a width of 3 to 6 mm, and a full edge. There is fragrance throughout. Put a short flower spike at the tip of the branch. The corolla has a crimson-colored lip shape, with the upper lip slightly split and standing upright, and the lower lip is split and opened. The spider has a cylindrical bell-shaped lip shape. There are four stamens. The fruit becomes fruit and becomes slightly flat.