Thyme 'de Provence' Seeds

This is the thyme of southern French cooking: a low, evergreen herb with tiny grey-green leaves and a warm, savoury scent. Small pale pink flowers cover the plant in early summer and are busy with bees. Use it in stews, roasts and tomato sauces, in a bouquet garni, or dried for your own herbes de Provence. Thymus vulgaris is a reliable perennial that thrives on neglect, happy in a sunny pot, a gravel garden or along the edge of a path.

Sowing and growing

• Sow indoors March to May on the surface of seed compost and barely cover
• Sow outdoors in a seedbed May to June
• Sow on the surface, covering with no more than a dusting of compost or vermiculite
• Germination is slow, typically 14 to 28 days at 15 to 20°C
• Full sun in very free-draining, poor to average soil; it dislikes winter wet
• Grows to about 15 to 30 cm tall and 20 cm wide
• Pick sprigs lightly from the first summer; flowers in early summer from the second year
• Hardy evergreen perennial; trim after flowering to keep it compact

What you receive: a packet of about 350 seeds from Piccolo Seeds, with growing instructions on the back.

Pair it with other kitchen herbs from our seed collection, and start the seed in trays from our propagation range.