Origanum vulgare Thumbles Variety - Oregano

Origanum vulgare 'Thumbles Variety' is a cultivar of common oregano that stands out for its very bright golden spring foliage. It is a perennial aromatic and culinary plant that quickly forms a wide and dense cushion, providing good coverage. It flowers for a good part of the summer, in clusters of small honey-scented flowers that are very pale pink, almost white. It is an excellent rockery or dry ground plant, and can also be grown in pots on a balcony.

Origanum vulgare 'Thumbles Variety' is believed to be native to France. The wild species, better known as Common Oregano or Marjoram, is a fast-growing bushy perennial. Belonging to the Lamiaceae family, it is native to mountainous regions of the Mediterranean Basin and temperate Asia. As a culinary herb, Oregano evokes Mediterranean cuisine and the scents of the scrubland. The 'Thumbles Variety' cultivar develops into a compact clump with a woody stump, reaching about thirty centimetres in height and 40 to 50cm (16 to 20in) in width. Its vegetation forms a wide and dense cushion. Its small leaves are more rounded than those of other oregano varieties. They persist to a greater or lesser extent in winter, depending on the climate. Their colour is a bright yellow-green in spring, turning green in summer. From July to September, this Golden Oregano exhibits, on very thin stems, compound panicles of small tubular flowers, 2 to 4mm (0in) long, almost white, surrounded by green leafy bracts tinged with pink. As a honey plant, this Oregano attracts a large number of pollinators and bees.

The leaves of Origanum vulgare 'Thumbles Variety' are used in the preparation of many Mediterranean dishes. It is particularly renowned in Italy for enhancing pasta, tomato sauces, and pizzas. Oregano stems are mainly harvested before flowering and then dried in the shade before being stored in an airtight jar. The flavour of the leaves can vary considerably depending on the cultivar, climate, and soil type.

An excellent robust and hardy ground cover, its golden spring foliage will illuminate garden beds or the surroundings of the vegetable garden. In the hottest regions, it is preferable to choose a semi-shaded location during the hottest hours of the day. This 'Thumbles Variety' Oregano is perfectly suited for bordering flower beds and rockeries, but it will also be remarkable for embellishing a wall or slope. It can also be planted in a pot, container, or planter on a terrace or balcony. Oregano is ideal within a simple square, in a vegetable garden, or in an herb garden. It will be a fabulous companion plant for perennial plants with blue flowers, lavenders, and shrubby salvias.

Oregano is not only a renowned culinary plant but also a traditional medicinal plant. Indeed, it is reputed to have digestive, antispasmodic, tonic, antiseptic properties, etc. In ancient Egypt, Oregano was used in preparations for embalming the dead.