• Aromatic
• Good for rockeries and pots
• Loved by bees
• Attractive variegated foliage

A tumbling thyme that is one of the best for our wet winters, it is a tasty culinary herb and looks very attractive growing over walls and containers. In common with other thymes the flowers are alight with foraging bees and butterflies in the summer.

Plant care

• Height: Creeping
• Type: Hardy
• Aspect: Sun
• Soil: Well drained
• Flower colour: Purple
• Flowering period: June – August

Thyme is a plant that just has to be in full sun it can never really be too hot for this fragrant herb, the more sun, the better the flavour and aroma. It also needs a well-drained soil and if this doesnt describe your garden it is better to grow thyme in a pot, wall or rockery. Most thymes are pretty hardy and cope well with frosts, it is the wetness and lack of light over winter that can finish them off, I know from experience with my heavy clay. If you have one growing in full sun between one and seven in the afternoon in summer thats fantastic, but the direct sun is reduced to about three hours in winter and it just isnt enough. Tabor thyme is one of the tougher thymes and copes well through the winter in the UK, it has an attractive sprawling habit, not quite a creeper and not quite upright. It should be cut back by about fifty per cent after flowering to keep it bushy.

Usage

One of the most widely used culinary herbs; this fragrant aromatic little gem is one of the traditional ingredients in bouquet garni and is used to flavour many meat, fish and egg dishes, either by adding whole stems (which are later removed) where the leaves will melt from them into the dishes, or by stripping the leaves and flowers a good method for using in marinades.
Thyme essential oil contains thymol which is antiseptic and an expectorant which makes it an excellent herb for cough syrups which helps kill bacteria and loosen phlegm. A tea made from thyme can be used as a gargle to soothe sore throats and as an antiseptic can be applied as a disinfecting wash for minor cuts and grazes.
Thyme flowers are adored by bees and butterflies and they work them tirelessly for their nectar.