Thyme Common

You cannot make a bouquet garni, a proper stew or a decent roast without it. Common thyme is the robust workhorse of the genus, a low woody sub-shrub carrying tiny dark leaves packed with earthy, faintly lemony oils.

In summer it covers itself in pale pink flowers so rich in nectar that the whole plant seems to vibrate with bees. It is one of the most reliable pollinator plants in a herb garden, and the flowers are edible too.

It thrives where other things scorch — paving crevices, gravel, the hot dry edge of a path. Its enemy is winter wet rather than cold, so give it sharp drainage and resist feeding it. Trim lightly after flowering, cutting into green growth rather than the old woody stems.