This culinary thyme self-sows easily in my Oregon, zone 8, growing conditions. It is my favorite "go to" cooking herb in my garden. I have it growing in a raised bed with sandy loam soil, topped with chicken grit. Seems to be very drought tolerant in our hot and dry summer months of July, August, and September. The plant in the photo taken 11/21/2015 is 4 years old and seems very happy planted in one of the cinder block holes. I imagine the roots have run very deep down the two stacked blocks.

Even in fall and winter the leaves have a nice strong thyme flavor and scent.

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Planted Thymus vulgaris over 30 years ago among the front house garden walkway stones. It now appears in every front garden flower bed, including container tubs as well as throughout our front and back lawn. Fortunately I like the summer small blooms throughout the lawn. It is difficult though to get it out of the flower beds because of the dense roots. it is now strangling the peonies.
Take caution where this is planted.

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This is a low-growing perennial herb with woody stems. I've had the same plant grown from seed for at least three years now. It's slowly expanding as it grows and competes with the evil Bermuda grass that I'm fighting in my cottage garden. So far, my little plant is holding its own, although it needs some assistance from me to pull the grass away. Wonderful culinary herb used in meats, fish, stews, and sauces or added to herbal vinegars and oils. It also has medicinal uses and makes a good tonic for sore throats, coughs, and chest colds. The Greeks used thyme as a purifying incense to cleanse the air in temples and homes.

Update: The Bermuda grass finally overtook the thyme. I now grow thyme in a container.

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In bulgarian мащерка.
The thyme herb is a semi-shrub, forming concave or loose tufts, high up to 10 (30) cm. The stems from the base are branched four-armed. Leaves opposite to short handles or squirrels, elliptical ovoid or oblong to linear, with punctuated glands, nude or fibrous, on the edge predominantly at baseline long-lasting. The flowers of the thyme are pink or red, gathered in bold headstones on the tops of the twigs. The crown is two-sided, the lower lip is deeply triple. Fruit dry, falling into 4 nuts. Typically, the leaves and the top of the stem with the colors are glandular-fibrous. The herb blooms June - September.
Spreading - Thyme grows on dry, rocky and hot spots, pastures and pastures. Spread across the country (Bulgaria) up to 2000 m above sea level. Meet across Europe.

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"Thymus vulgaris (common thyme, garden thyme or just thyme) is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to southern Europe from the western Mediterranean to southern Italy. Growing to 15–30 cm (6–12 in) tall by 40 cm (16 in) wide, it is a bushy, woody-based evergreen subshrub with small, highly aromatic, grey-green leaves and clusters of purple or pink flowers in early summer.

It is useful in the garden as groundcover, where it can be short-lived, but is easily propagated from cuttings. It is also the main source of thyme as an ingredient in cooking and as an herbal medicine."

Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...

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