English Wedgewood Thyme
Thymus 'English Wedgewood'
Height: 12 inches
Spacing: 18 inches
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 4b
Description:
Less sprawling with a more bush-like growth, this variety is a perfect addition to patio containers and borders; features small, fragrant, deep green foliage with yellow centers; a sweet and mild culinary herb prefect for marinades, dressings, or drying
Edible Qualities
English Wedgewood Thyme is a perennial herb that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. The tiny fragrant round yellow leaves with distinctive green edges can be harvested at any time in the season. The leaves have a mild taste and a pleasant fragrance.
The leaves are most often used in the following ways:
- Cooking
- Drying
- Seasoning
Features & Attributes
English Wedgewood Thyme is smothered in stunning clusters of pink flowers at the ends of the stems from early to mid summer. Its attractive tiny fragrant round leaves remain yellow in color with distinctive green edges throughout the year.
This is a dense herbaceous evergreen perennial herb with a spreading, ground-hugging habit of growth. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect. This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;
- Spreading
Aside from its primary use as an edible, English Wedgewood Thyme is sutiable for the following landscape applications;
- Rock/Alpine Gardens
- Border Edging
- General Garden Use
- Groundcover
- Herb Gardens
- Container Planting
Planting & Growing
English Wedgewood Thyme will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 3 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.
This plant is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated herb garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to dry locations, and dislikes excessive moisture. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
English Wedgewood Thyme is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.