July 3, 2003

To attract fairies to your garden, try growing thyme, suggests Zahrah Nasir

Searching for the enchantment of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta or wherever may sound like a very far-fetched fantasy, but Shakespeare would have done so as long as there was a plant of ‘Thyme’ to be found.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream — one of the Bard’s most famous works — Oberon, King of the Fairies, quotes: “I know a bank where the wild thyme blows/where oxlips and the nodding violet grows.”

Indeed, in mediaeval Europe, it was believed that fairies lived around thyme, whether it was wild or cultivated, and that if you drank a cup of thyme tea, you would certainly see them.

In ancient Greece, thyme was venerated as a real wonder herb, one which would give you courage to fight battles, allow you to commune with spirits and prevent nightmares. Similarly in the Highlands of Scotland, thyme tea was drunk in large quantities by burly warriors to ensure strength and courage.

Thyme tea, locally known as ‘Mountain Tea’, is harvested and used in the mountainous north of Pakistan but, unfortunately, I am not familiar with our version of the legends surrounding this wonderfully aromatic and antiseptic plant.

As a medicinal and culinary herb, thyme has an incredible number of uses, probably just as many, if not more, than the known varieties of this attractive herb, at least 400 are listed and there are possibly just as many, if not more, unlisted sub-species.

Thyme can be grown from seed or from cuttings. Personally, I find growing from seed, and then propagating by root division the easiest method of growing this family of plants.

Thyme is essentially a plant of the mountains and in Pakistan, indigenous varieties are Thymus afghanicus, T. biflorus, T. debilis and T. serphyllum, the latter, a creeping variety, often referred to in herbals as Mother-of-Thyme.

Thyme requires a light, well-drained soil and will not withstand waterlogging. In hot areas, such as Karachi, it will take full sun from early November through to the end of March but, for the rest of the year it requires only a couple of hours of sunshine, either early morning or late evening, with the rest of the day in shade.

In hot places, thyme is best grown in pots. The pots do not need to be very deep, six inches is quite enough, but I would suggest that the diameter of the pot is at least two or three feet because, if the plant is happy, then it spreads rapidly and will be cascading over the sides of the pot in no time at all.

I grow T. serphyllum, as mentioned, a creeping variety, which only reaches a height of a couple of inches at the most. It is wonderful if allowed to spread beneath other herbs such as Sage, Rosemary, Mint and Oregano, each plant complementing the other in shape, form and aroma plus, the thyme will keep down the weeds and help retain soil moisture in the process.

Creating such an intermingled herb garden may require a much larger, possibly an elongated pot, and moving it into the shade when needed would be a herculean task but one well worth the effort. A cup of Thyme tea, first, may help.

I also grow a much taller variety, T. pulegioides which reaches a height of up to one foot and bears clusters of rose-purple flowers on and off throughout the summer. Creeping thyme by the way has pale to dark pink flowers.

Two more varieties which I am currently adding to my small collection are T. citriodorus fragrantissimus, with gray-green leaves, pink to white flowers and the scent of citrus. As with the latter, this is supposed to reach a height of around one foot.

My second new addition is not actually thyme but Acinos arvensis, otherwise known as Alpine Basil Thyme, which is supposed to have the properties of both basil and thyme which sounds quite fascinating to me.

Other splendid varieties of what is also an extremely important bee plant, include the following: T. Silver posie, pale pink flowers and silver edged green leaves; T. Aureus or Golden creeping thyme with rose coloured flowers and golden leaves; T. pseudolanginosus or Woolly thyme, another creeper with pink flowers and hairy leaves; T. zygis from Spain and Portugal with needle-like leaves and white flowers; and T. capitata or Persian Hyssop with purplish pink flowers.

Thyme can be used either fresh or dried and oil is extracted from the plants by commercial growers.

Medicinally it is used in tea as a digestive, for coughs, colds and sore throats. As a culinary herb, it can be added to almost anything you can think of, particularly useful in Mediterranean cooking and one of the main ingredients of our home-made herb breads and soft cheeses.

Like Rosemary, it is a powerful antiseptic and a strong decoction of leaves makes an excellent household disinfectant.

Go easy on using fresh thyme if you are not familiar with it, the taste can be quite strong and overpower other herbs and spices. Dried thyme can be very aromatic for more than three months.

To dry thyme cut sprigs, even handfuls if you have it, just as it begins to flower as, at this time the flavour is at its best, lay the sprigs on a piece of newspaper and leave to dry, preferably out of direct sunlight, mixing them around once in a while and taking them into the house before humidity rises in the evening.

They should be dry within three or four days though, depending on the climate, or may take longer. Crumble the dry leaves into an airtight jar, if the leaves are not totally dry they will have a rubbery texture and should be dried some more, store in a cool dark place and, preferably, use within six months

Thyme was also known and valued by the ancient Egyptians who used it in brewing up embalming fluid for their mummification process. Though we drink thyme tea regularly, we haven’t yet spotted any fairies at the bottom of the garden. But when there is a full moon, you may get a chance to spot one!

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)