Greek Oregano (Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum)

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Botanical name: Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum • Bloom season: Summer • Bloom color: White • Pollinator value: Attracts small-bee and butterflies


True Greek oregano has gray-green leaves with far more flavor than ordinary garden oregano, plus clouds of tiny white flowers in summer. Most cooks cut it before it blooms. Let a portion flower, and it turns into one of the busiest plants in the whole herb bed, covered in small native bees, honeybees, and butterflies for weeks on end.

Photo credit: Ashley @Sage.and.Summit

Botanical name: Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum • Bloom season: Summer • Bloom color: White • Pollinator value: Attracts small-bee and butterflies


True Greek oregano has gray-green leaves with far more flavor than ordinary garden oregano, plus clouds of tiny white flowers in summer. Most cooks cut it before it blooms. Let a portion flower, and it turns into one of the busiest plants in the whole herb bed, covered in small native bees, honeybees, and butterflies for weeks on end.

Photo credit: Ashley @Sage.and.Summit

Size:

Plant Characteristics

Botanical Name: Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum

Common Name: Greek Oregano

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Low

Bloom Time: Summer

Bloom Color: White

Pollinators: Bees; Butterflies

Deer Resistant: Yes

Mature Size: W 18" x H 12"-18"

Soil: Sharply drained; lean, alkaline soil

Pollinator Value: Attracts small-bees and butterflies

Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial subshrub

USDA Zones: 5 to 9

Spread Habit: Clumping

Available As: Live plant

Growing Notes

Full sun and sharply drained, lean, alkaline soil, which is to say ordinary Northern Nevada ground with no amendment at all. Flavor concentrates when the plant is grown hard and dry; rich, watered soil produces bigger leaves that taste of less. Space about 15 inches apart.

  • Water: Low

  • Sun: Full Sun

  • Soil: Sharply drained; lean, alkaline soil

  • Mature size: W 18" x H 12"-18"

Maintenance

Shear it back by a third after flowering. Cut back to a few inches in early spring, staying above the woody base. It gets woody and sparse after four or five years and is easier to replace than to renovate. Divide in spring if you want more plants. No fertilizer.