#CREEPING THYME MOTHER OF THYME HOW TO#

The green leaves can be used to flavor cooked food such as soups, casseroles, and stews and the flowers can be added as a garnish to salads to add color and interest. Flowers that butterflies love appear as clusters of small red/purple, white flowers, and pink or pale pink flowers at the end of stems in late spring and mid-summer. Tender new stems have the best flavor and strongest aroma. The grey/green tiny oval-shaped leaves are slightly hairy and highly aromatic. First-year growth is slow, but once established, blooming thyme will reach maximum spread in around 3 years. It has a sprawling growth habit growing to 3-4 inches tall above the ground (7-10 cm) and 6-18 inches (15-46 cm) spread. The thymus genus is part of the mint family, Lamiaceae, and originates from southern Europe and Asia.Ĭreeping thyme is a short-lived woody perennial covered in foliage, lasting around 3 to 5 years before becoming unproductive and spindly.

There’s plenty of coverage no matter which thyme variety is chosen. There are two key varieties of thyme with a low growing habit that gives rise to the common name ‘creeping thyme’: Thymus praecox, also known as the mother of thyme, and Thymus serpyllum, commonly referred to as wild thyme. Source: Rachel Ford James Common Name(s)Ĭreeping thyme, mother of thyme, wild thymeĪll About Creeping Thyme When flowering, creeping thyme develops a pink to purple mat across its foliage. Good Products At Amazon For Growing Creeping Thyme: Quick Care Guide Creeping thyme can be a very effective groundcover option. Creeping thyme is also a magnet for pollinating insects, especially bees and butterflies, which adds delicious flavor to the resulting honey. Both the flowers and leaves are edible, and unlike many other herbs, creeping thyme plants do not lose their flavor when in bloom and when the flowers die. Low maintenance growing and including an excellent aromatic ground cover are some of the benefits. There are many benefits to growing the green leaves and sometimes white flowers of creeping thyme in your garden. It can even be used as an alternative to a grass lawn, growing only a few inches tall, able to withstand moderate foot traffic, and providing a spectacular vision of pink when in bloom. This aromatic herb, although edible, is used mainly as a garden landscape tool or as a ground cover, filling gaps between stepping stones and crevices in dry-stone walls.

#CREEPING THYME MOTHER OF THYME HOW TO#

Read on to discover how to create your own little slice of flowering creeping thyme heaven that spreads quickly through your front yard. Good news! It’s very easy to recreate this look at home. Creeping thyme is one of those ‘must have’ plants you see in glossy lifestyle magazines, with soft pink floral carpets cascading over cottage garden walls or sprawling across a gravel garden overlooking the ocean, creating an altogether dreamy and aspirational ambiance.

Creeping thyme mother of thyme