Thyme
 

I planted thyme for the first time. I bought two plants and planted them near my lilies. They are doing nicely. Do they come back every year or are they an annual?

Thyme is a perennial where you are.


~Dig

Will come back with a vengeance! English thyme anyways..

I have lemon thyme

I put my three thyme plants (English, Lemon, Lime) in the garage for the winter where they get some light but are sheltered from the worst of the cold, wind, and snow. I cut them back a bit this spring, and they're all doing well now.

Lemon thyme is not hardy where I am----zone 5.

[QUOTE=jgaleota;223473]Lemon thyme is not hardy where I am----zone 5.[/QUOTE]

I have not problem over-wintering it here in Zone 5, but I do mulch.

[url]http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modzz/00001449.html[/url]

~Dig

[QUOTE=DiggingDogFarm;223479]I have not problem over-wintering it here in Zone 5, but I do mulch.

[URL]http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modzz/00001449.html[/URL]

~Dig[/QUOTE]

Do you put mulch over the plant in the winter?

Hmm. Interesting. I wonder if what I had was variegated lemon thyme, which I believe is zone 6. Or maybe we had a **** of a winter that year.

Interesting. I wonder if what I had was variegated lemon thyme. I think it is a zone 6.

French thyme is the best, imo, and hardy here in zone 5.

[QUOTE=Elliot;223484]Do you put mulch over the plant in the winter?[/QUOTE]


Yes i do.


~Dig :)

[QUOTE=lurley;223508]French thyme is the best, imo, and hardy here in zone 5.[/QUOTE]


Good to know! Thanks.

OK - need advice - my thyme is out along the inside edge of my raised beds - it does get uber hot here. The thyme looks beautiful ten gets long straggly twiggy w/green leaves only on the ends, then nothing. This occurs over the summer. The bed is used to grow tomatoes but the thyme is on the south side- getting full sun & drier than beneath or to the north of the maters. The thyme is NOT mulched. I have had it overwinter & try to push out new growth - but it fails. I have tried trimming but that seemed to hasten the inevitable. No mildew or mold seen (unlike the sage). Any advice? I have started 4 big burly plants - lemon, orange, French & English - not in the bed this year but in pots w/native loamy sand - no amendments. They are on my deck - OMG, were they ever heavy to tote up the stairs! Full all day sun? 6 or so hrs am sun? I can place them on the east facing deck to adjust light. Water? I wonder if the plants in my bed got too dry? Any advice appreciated. Oh - fertilizer? I never have but have rabbit, chicken & bull poop & the blue stuff (LOL). TIA

The only thing that will surely kill Thyme up here is if the soil is too dry for too long. In the winter my potted thyme comes indoors and will eventually go dormant and die back, but if the soil isn't kept slightly moist all winter, ir won't return in the spring. The plants I have in the ground don't need much attention since lack of moisture isn't an issue here.
It will get long and straggly with small leaves if there isn't enough light, but yours is getting plenty of sunshine, so maybe it needs some fertilizer. I fertilize in the spring when new growth appears with liquid fish/seaweed and then a light dusting of a granular organic fertilizer on top of the soil.