Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Carpets of Thyme, Carpets of Flowers

Bressingham Thyme is one longest  blooming thymes in my garden. It started in May and is still bloomingIMG_0137
This carpet is under the corner arbor.
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Bees of all kinds work over the flowers. I try to stay on the stepping stones, less I hurt one of them.
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The lavender thyme is starting on this pathway. I grow strawberries in the bed to the right of the path. Today Ted and I ate our first strawberries.

lemon thyme path
Lemon thyme – this smells like a lemon merigue pie. I like to use this thyme in tuna salad, along with garden chives and parsley.
woolly thyme path
This path has wooly thyme. Valerian to the left. Potatoes to the right and the wooded box in the back is my potato growing bin. You keep adding height with wooden planks and  top with straw or compost. This the first time I have tried this so I will let you know how it goes.
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Spicy Orange Thymus from Stepables. This thyme  is a little taller than the others. The scent is amazing. To me it spicy, orange and almost rose-like. I am moving it around here and there. I love the surprise of suddenly smelling it’s fragrance, before I am aware of its presence.
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Bressingham thyme. By now you know I love left over cement. This I made with some leftover material and seashells.

Our weather has been colder and wetter than normal. Today we were in the 80’s but, this evening we have a tornado watch and we just had hail from pea to golf ball size. Fortunately, a friend who lives out of town, called me and warned me of the hail coming my way. I was able to cover the tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. The storm did not last long. I think it will be ok.

24 comments:

  1. I collect thymes, too. The lemon thyme seems to die out on my every few years or so. I really need to make more of an effort with the soil. No flowers on them yet this year.

    I planted mine to begin with because they remind me of my grandmother. And they are so useful (as you pointed out) in the kitchen.

    Christine in Alaska

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  2. What can I say? Your Thyme walks are just beautiful. I'm afraid thyme would struggle in the heat here but I'd like to try other than culinary thyme, which just kind of sits there.

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  3. Wow, Gloria. You have a nice collection of Thyme in your garden. The only one I have is Lemon Thyme, and I absolutely love it.
    The description of Spicy Orange Thymus sounds intriguing. If I ever come across it, I'll buy it.

    Although I have plenty of strawberry plants, I have yet to taste one. The chipmunks have been at them. They pick them before they are ripe so my strawberries never get to reach ripeness.

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  4. Love this - looks like creeping phlox. Does it do well in damp, clay soil? Have a spot I need something like this!

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  5. Hi Christine - you make a good point about the soil. My soil is clay and when it gets wet, it stays wet. I think the thyme like the moisture, but they do not like to be mulched with bigger matter. I put them in and mulch them with pea gravel. They then grow through the pea gravel. I've experimented the smoother brighter green leaf thymes even do well in a bit of shade.

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  6. Hi Nell Jean, thank you for the compliment!

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  7. Annelie, our robins would eat or peck at every strawberry if given a chance. I use black plastic netting, loosely bunched up and anchored by rocks. Most of my strawberries are June bearers so after a bit, I can uncover. I say loosely bunched because you do not want the strawberry plants to be pressed down. They need air circulation

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  8. Hi Julie - look for low growing bright green thymes. Not the grey green like woolly thyme that like dry and hot. Then make sure to mulch with pea gravel. Give it a try. I am always moving them around. I have a long path of the lavender thyme and it started with just one or two of the littlest containers you can buy :)

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  9. I had a lovely thyme strolling along your thyme-filled paths. The spicy orange thyme sounds intriguing, and I like that it's a little taller too. Glad you had a chance to cover your veggies before the hail arrived, I hope everything made it through unscathed!

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  10. Hi Curbstone Valley Farm, Thank you...The first hail didn't do much trouble...but in the middle of the night we got thunderstorms, wind and more hail. That made a bit of a mess, but I had left the covers on the veggies. The rest of the garden took a bit of a pruning. But it should perk up. It is early in the season.

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  11. Gloria, your thyme walks are wonderful! I can imagine how delightful it is to stroll along and take in the fragrance, as well as the sight. I currently have lemon thyme planted in a large stone planter across the front of my house. It is doing well. I also have planted steppables, including a variety of thymes, around the stone footpath in my lady garden. It is all just beginning to fill in. I can only hope it will become half as beautiful as yours!

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  12. Gloria,
    Your garden and blog are a delight. I am in love with the thyme walk and the long arbor. You and hubby are a great gardening couple.

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  13. Deb, your garden is beautiful! And thyme is a wonderful plant.

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  14. Mothernaturegarden. Thank you for your kind words. I'm blessed with a kind husband who likes to humour me. He doesn't garden, in the sense of planting anything, but I think he also gets joy from the garden. As a gardener, I am sure you know what I mean :)

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  15. Hi, Gloria!
    We had hail 2 nights ago and the poor tomatoes are looking pretty ragged. I'm a little weary of all this wild weather but I think we're set for a lovely weekend. Hope you have one, too. :)

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  16. Amazing! I try to grow wooly thyme around my stepping stones, but it grows well only where it has enough sun. You did a great job, Gloria, and not only with the thyme, but with strawberries, potatoes, etc. I hope that hail didn't cause any damage.

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  17. Hello Gloria, I've just been sitting here in awe of your beautiful, productive and bee friendly garden - what an inspiration! I've just got lemon thyme so far, but I'm inspired to plant lots more after reading your post. I hope we can grow the spicy orange variety here in my part of Australia!

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  18. Hi Kate - I spent the day cleaning up after the hail. Twigs, and broken branches, ugh! The waterlillies are filled with holes. It will all fix up - Plus, today is beautiful.

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  19. Tatyana, the woolly time is the most needing of sun and dry. The others like lemon with shiney green leaves do better with shade and wet. Thanks for your compliment. I really enjoy your blog

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  20. Heidi at GippsLand, thank you so much for your kind comments. If you can grow the lemon thyme, I think you should be able to grow many others. I visited and enjoyed your blog

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  21. Your thyme looks beautiful Gloria. I love the way you have it growing between the stepping stones. I have 5 different types, woolly thyme, lemon thyme, Thymus serpyllum, Thymus vulgaris and another one with variegated foliage, green and white, I don't know the name of.

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  22. Hi Gloria, I love the look of the thyme growing around the irregular cement blocks. The only problem is the danger of going barefoot! lavender thyme is a new one for me. cheers, catmint

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  23. I love thyme pathways, and yours are looking quite lovely!

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  24. I know I'm way behind schedule on this, Gloria, but what a lovely post. I'm inspired by your stepping stone paths, so lovely. I have tons of lemon thyme and don't use it very often -- thanks for the idea to use it in tuna fish salad. I bet it's a treat. Never tried chives that way, either, and can't wait to try! :)

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