Thymus citriodorus Silver Queen - Lemon Thyme

Thymus citriodorus 'Silver Queen' is a variety of lemon thyme that is absolutely delicious, both for its fragrant foliage and the beautiful hue of its small leaves bordered in white-silver. This perennial plant, which thrives in dry and poor soil, forms a small shrub with a curly appearance, tiny evergreen leaves, and a lovely spring flowering in a rosy-mauve mist. Used as a herb, it is also a very pretty rockery or sunny border plant. It is essential in dry and rocky gardens, where the soil lacks depth and does not retain moisture.

First mentioned in 1923, Thyme 'Silver Queen'is an English horticultural creation derived from Thymus x citriodorus. The origin of the latter is controversial, with some botanists considering it as a hybrid of Thymus vulgaris (the thyme of our scrublands), while others see it as a separate species named Thymus serpyllium var. citriodorus. Whatever the case may be, Thyme 'Silver Queen', like its ancestors, is a medicinal and aromatic plant belonging to the family Lamiaceae (or Labiatae) and native to southern Europe.

'Silver Queen' forms a slightly spreading, almost prostrate and branching clump, 20 cm (8in) tall and 30 cm (12in) wide. Its small oval and dentate grey-green foliage bordered with silver, leathery in texture, covers woody stems, giving the plant a silvery appearance from a distance. Numerous essential oil glands are visible under a magnifying glass on the 1 cm (0.5 in) long leaves. The flowering occurs from May to July depending on the climate. Very small tubular and bilabiate flowers in pink-mauve or lilac colour bloom in cymes on the current year's shoots. Like many Mediterranean plants adapted to drought, thymes develop a double root system, consisting of a central taproot which sinks deeply into the soil, and a superficial network of very long rootlets capable of extracting the slightest moisture on the surface.

'Silver Queen' Lemon Thyme is a small evergreen shrub, decorative throughout the year, very hardy when planted in perfectly drained or even arid soil. The light almost silvery colour of its foliage sets it apart from other culinary plants.  Plant it with other plants of dry ground such as lavender, rock roses, shrubby salvias, dwarf wormwoods, cotton lavenders, or rosemarys.  It will thrive in a very sunny rockery, keeping company with Aubrieta canescens, golden or silver baskets, teucrium, and creeping ceanothus. It is also used as a herb; its fragrance of scrubland leaves is highly appreciated in cooking. Used alone or in a bouquet garni, combined with bay leaves, parsley, and rosemary, thyme leaves flavor slow-cooked dishes, sauces, marinades, and stocks. They are also used in infusion, renowned for relieving digestive ailments. A sun-loving plant, thyme can also be planted as a dry border or in a pot, which allows it to be kept close to the kitchen...