Herb Question

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Claire

Master Chef
Joined
Sep 4, 2004
Messages
7,967
Location
Galena, IL
For some reason, most of my thyme didn't come back this year. This broke my heart, as it is one of my favorites. I make a lot of soups, and for the months that it is out there, I count on it. The low-creeping, lemon tyme came back, but none of the regular old culinary thyme. I just bought some plants to replace them, but am curious. Does anyone know why this happened? Does thyme have a life of certain number of years, or was winter just too harsh this year? (we're talking about 3 or 4 plants)
 
If you had a particularly cold winter, that could kill off the thyme. We've never been able to get rosemary to survive the winter.
 
My thyme never survives the winter. My oregano was the only thing that came back this year.
 
Rosemary I keep in a pot and bring in for the winter. It's definitely a warm-weather plant. My thyme plants usually come back, but I guess last winter was just too much. Parsley, sage, various mints, lemon balm, a couple of types of chives all came back. Now that I think of it, there used to be some oregano out there and it didn't return either. There's also a mystery herb. I think maybe savory? Anyway, I just bought a tub of thyme to plant along with my seasonal basil. I havn't had the chance to get to Dubuque, so am making do with what I can find here in Galena. I'm having a hard time developing any energy for gardening this year.
 
Thyme is fairly short-lived in my garden - 2 or 3 seasons is about as long as any lasts. I usually put some between flagstones on one of the paths - smells heavenly when you walk on it... the little broken bits (caused by heavy traffic in summer!) often root themselves in the flower beds and lawn and I can then transplant it to where I want it to grow, rather than where IT wants to grow!

Thyme also thrives in dry conditions in my garden. This winter has been LONG and wet (yes, even by our standards!) - but most of it seems to have survived.
 
Ishbel, that reminds me of a plant I had in Florida. I could never get cilantro to grow there -- it would bolt as soon as it came up. BUT ... one hardy seed planted itself in the lawn, where it got mowed down every week. It lasted for a long time
 

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