Lemon thyme is among the easiest plants to grow as they do the heavy lifting by themselves. This aromatic herb is a thyme variety that grows perennially where the climate is moderately dry and sunny. The advantages offered by lemon thyme are so numerous that it would greatly boost any garden.
The leaves of lemon thyme are edible. Fresh thyme leaves can and should be harvested and are useful in a variety of recipes as they contribute a bold flavor that can successfully compete with other strong ingredients and blends beautifully in Italian dishes when combined with garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes.
Lemon thyme is a perfect complement to Mediterranean dishes because its flavor blends easily with them, and it also grows in that region. Although lemon thyme resembles common thyme, you can distinguish the two by crushing a few of its leaves; the aroma transported to your nose is distinctly citrusy thyme’s powerful lemony perfume.
The species of thyme are more than 350, and thus we can find many scents or flavors. One of them is the lemon thyme plant, which has a strong bouquet that makes it easy to identify and comes with a zesty bouquet to match its name affectionately.
Thyme was cultivated during ancient times because of its antiseptic and preservative properties, alongside other helpful medicinal uses. Moreover, it served culinary purposes in ancient recipes, especially for meat preservation. By the medieval era, thyme was already being added to early perfumes.
Currently, thyme is primarily grown for decorative purposes, although its culinary use is also on the rise. Lemon thyme does not want in flavor to regular thyme, and many chefs consider it a better option in some dishes compared to regular thyme.
Diners do not get the standard bitterness associated with thyme. Instead, what they do get is lemony zest and light herbal thyme flavor, which makes the experience refreshing on the palate.
The flowers of thyme plants also support bee populations, as pink, white, and lavender colored flowers are their favorite. In addition to this, thyme’s gray-green leaves provide ever greenness and can be harvested during winter, which gives thyme a unique an evergreen characteristic.
In addition to lemon thyme’s light purple and lavender colored flowers, they also serve culinary purposes. As such, they can be used to decorate dishes and provide a subtle herbal and citrus flavor, similar to the leaves. Thus, the flowers are useful in the kitchen just like the leaves.
In recent times, researchers have classified lemon thyme as its own separate species. It was treated as a hybrid herb for much of its existence. Recent DNA studies show that it is not a combination of garden thyme and broadleaf thyme, but rather an entirely distinct species. The work of horticulturists has led to a number of different varieties of lemon thyme cultivars available today.
Lemon thyme’s culinary uses and its aromatic qualities make it a common plant found in herb gardens. Its practicality and ease of care have also contributed to its increasing popularity. Lemon thyme fits perfectly into a collection of herbs found in outdoor herb gardens.
As for the rest of your lemon thyme plants, they can flourish in rock gardens, even in places with little to no soil. The lemon thyme plant also thrives in container gardens and can be used as ground cover or as a border plant for flower beds and pathways.
Varieties of Lemon Thyme
Creeping Golden Lemon Thyme: This cultivar has golden-green leaves with a pronounced fragrance of lemon. In addition, it also produces lavender spiked flowers during bloom season.
Lemon Supreme: This variety’s light mauve flowers emerge from mid to late summer. The lemon supreme thyme plant is hardier than other varieties and differentiates itself by having a more pronounced lemon aroma and flavor than other cultivars.
Lime Thyme: Contrary to expectations, lime thyme does not have its own taxonomic rank, as it is simply a hybrid with a perennial Mediterranean cousin that bears a lime-scented and flavored shrub in place of the lemon-scented shrub. This mounding ground cover has lavender-pink blooms and chartreuse green leaves.
Orange Thyme: This lemon thyme cultivar is an especially low-growing plant with more forward-ekeing orange citrus scent and flavor.
Silver-Edged Lemon Thyme: This type of thyme is characterized by the green leaves which bear silver edges and a milder aroma and flavor profile. In the summertime, it is adorned with pink flowers.
Golden Lemon Thyme: This subtype of lemon thyme as its name indicates bears a yellow gold variegated foliage, however, bred to have a less pungent aroma and flavor than common lemon thyme plants.
Growing Conditions for Lemon Thyme
Lemon Thyme prefers hot and dry conditions rather than cool, damp environments. It can thrive in hardiness zones between 5-9, flourishing towards evergreen in zones 8 and 9. Like most species of thyme, lemon thyme is adaptive and resilient, as well as easy to grow.
Certain lemon thyme varieties have differing care instructions despite the same overarching genus guide. Some flower stalks shoot up, some cascade while others produce dense ground-covering mats.
Some varieties spread and produce almost flat-looking carpet thyme, while other varieties grow vertically up to 6-10 inches. Surprisingly, plants tend to be picky about being touched. Overhandling leads to worse performance, most frequently seen with gardeners who fuss too much.
Remember to provide your plant with full sunlight and water it regularly. Lemon thyme does not tolerate cool, damp soil, particularly damp roots.
To achieve the best results, lemon thyme should be planted in spring to the full resonating sun with an exposure of 12 inches between every plant. Ensure that watering is not excessive and do check for good drainage within your soil. Expect your plants to reach a height of 12 to 15 inches.
Taking care of lemon thyme is simple since they are quite tolerant to poor soils and droughts, as well as being deer resistant.
Deemed a gardener favorite, lemon thyme does not endure serious pest or disease issues. Ants may visit, but they do not pose a threat to lemon thyme plants. Only root rot occurs when they is too much standing water.
With the exception of those aforementioned conditions, if the appropriate growing conditions are provided, nothing should hinder lemon thyme growth.
How to Plant Lemon Thyme
In most cases, thyme plants are propagated by division or by cutting, but for some reason, lemon thyme seeds are still occasionally sown. It is crucial that no other varieties are added to the mix when seeding lemon thyme as different varieties of thyme can cross-pollinate leading to hybridization.
If you intend to cultivate a large expanse with thyme plants, allow for a spacing of approximately six inches between each plant so they create a solid ground cover. On the other hand, lemon thyme requires spacing of about 12 inches between each plant.
Care of Lemon Thyme
Thyme tends to become a bit shrubby in warmer climates. A preventative trim in early spring helps to reduce the risk of woodiness occurring from the accumulation of pruned plant parts in previous seasons. Further decorative shaping can be done after flowering if desired.
If you wish to let a lemon thyme plant grow naturally, the care involves just a little deadheading of blooms to promote fresh growth that follows the pruning of old bloom heads to make it tidy.
Harvesting Lemon Thyme
You can harvest lemon thyme at any time, but the optimum time to harvest herbs is in the morning and just prior to flowering. This is the best time to pick lemon thyme as it is most flavorful and aromatic.
To enhance your recipes, all you need to do is grab some scissors or gardening shears and snip off a few stems. You can extract essential oils from lemon thyme by crushing the leaves and rub them onto your skin to ward off mosquito bites.
While a food dehydrator or low-and-slow oven can dry thyme for long term storage, the herb is best fresh. To prepare lemon thyme for cooking, retrieve the leaves and chop them. Add them towards the end of the preparation for maximum preservation of the herb’s potent flavor, aroma, and color.
Excessive heat from the oven or frying pan could make lemon thyme lose its leaves’ flavor and texture. In culinary practice, lemon thyme is versatile and can be added to almost any dish. It is frequently used in soups, stews, seafood, poultry and vegetable recipes, and even in sauces, stuffings, and marinades. Ornamental sprigs and flowers are sometimes used to garnish dishes.
Garden Pests and Diseases of Lemon Thyme
Thyme beds have been known to host small colonies of ants. This is because the soil is easy to navigate as it is loosely packed. If you are cultivating lemon thyme in extremely moist or humid environments, mold and root rot could be significant challenges.
Make certain that your thyme plants are not sitting in stagnant water and that both the soil and the planting area are well-drained and loose enough to sustain the irrigation given.