Kitchen Garden Simon Courtauld

THYME

Thyme is not only the most useful herb in the kitchen. It is also one of the easiest to grow. The seeds are available in packets of a thousand for less than £2, but it may be simpler to buy a small plant or take cuttings in spring from a friend’s plant.

Chalky soil is said to be best for thyme, but my plants grow happily enough on greensand.

Common thyme ( Thymus vulgaris) is the hardiest variety, growing to about 12 inches with mauve flowers in summer. The mature plants can be cut back in June to encourage new, bushy growth, and I have found that the harder they are cut, the more vigorously they will grow.

If the stems are to be cut for drying, this should be done just before the plants come into flower. Any that have become very straggly should be divided or replaced.

Of the many varieties of thyme, a lemon- or orange-scented plant is not as hardy as the common thyme and may need protection with straw in winter.

Silver Posie has variegated leaves and pink flowers, while the creeping thymes are suitable for paths or for growing between paving stones.

One of these ( Thymus serpyllum) may be the wild variety growing on a bank where Titania slept. Oberon speaks of it in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Thyme grows well in containers, and will look attractive in a raised urn among other taller herbs. I have seen different varieties emerging from the holes of a strawberry pot; all of them are loved by bees, giving their honey a delicious flavour.

In addition to its culinary uses, thyme is a versatile herb. Thymol, or oil of thyme, has antiseptic properties. It has been used in surgical dressings, as a disinfectant and in toothpaste.

Simon and Garfunkel sang of ‘parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme’. In the television series Rosemary and Thyme, one of the gardening detectives had Thyme as her surname. Only recently, I have heard of a friend’s grandson who has been given Thyme as a first name.