10 Thyme Plants for a Flavorful Herb Garden

If you’re dreaming of a home herb garden filled with fragrance, flavor, and beauty, thyme should be at the top of your list. This versatile, hardy herb isn’t just a kitchen staple — it’s also a charming groundcover and a pollinator-friendly plant. With many different varieties available, you can grow thyme for its culinary uses, ornamental value, or delightful aroma. Here’s a guide to 10 wonderful thyme plants to enrich your herb garden.

1. Common Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

Common Thyme is the most popular culinary variety, widely used in kitchens around the world. Its small, gray-green leaves release a warm, earthy aroma and pair beautifully with meats, soups, and stews. Common thyme is a hardy, evergreen herb that thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. Its delicate, pale-purple flowers attract bees and other pollinators, making it as useful in the garden as it is in the kitchen.

2. Lemon Thyme (Thymus citriodorus)

As the name suggests, Lemon Thyme offers a delightful citrus scent and flavor. Its bright green leaves are smaller than common thyme, and they’re perfect for flavoring chicken, fish, and vegetable dishes. This variety grows well in containers, rock gardens, or along pathways, releasing its lemony fragrance when brushed against. Lemon thyme is also drought-tolerant and produces tiny pink or lavender flowers in summer.

3. Creeping Thyme (Thymus serpyllum)

A favorite groundcover, Creeping Thyme forms a dense mat of tiny, aromatic leaves and produces clusters of pink, purple, or white flowers in summer. It’s not only ornamental but edible too, with a milder flavor than common thyme. Ideal for filling spaces between pavers, covering slopes, or planting along garden edges, creeping thyme thrives in full sun and poor, well-drained soil. It’s a magnet for bees and butterflies.

4. Woolly Thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus)

Woolly Thyme is prized more for its velvety, silver-green foliage than for its culinary uses. It’s an excellent choice for groundcover, especially in rock gardens or between stepping stones, where it releases a pleasant scent when stepped on. This low-growing variety blooms with tiny pink flowers in summer. While it’s not typically used in cooking, it’s perfect for adding texture and softness to your garden.

5. Caraway Thyme (Thymus herba-barona)

If you enjoy the warm, spicy aroma of caraway seeds, you’ll love Caraway Thyme. This variety produces small, dark green leaves with a distinctive, savory fragrance that’s wonderful in roasted meat dishes. It’s a hardy, low-growing plant that works well as a groundcover or edging. Caraway thyme produces pretty pink flowers in summer, attracting bees and beneficial insects to your herb garden.

6. Orange Balsam Thyme (Thymus fragrantissimus)

Orange Balsam Thyme is a lesser-known variety with a unique, citrusy aroma that combines hints of orange and balsam. Its slender, green leaves are perfect for infusing teas, desserts, or fruit salads. This thyme grows as a compact shrub and blooms with pale purple flowers in summer. It thrives in sunny, well-drained spots and adds a refreshing fragrance to patios, herb beds, or borders.

7. Silver Thyme (Thymus vulgaris ‘Argenteus’)

Silver Thyme is a stunning ornamental variety featuring silvery-gray leaves edged in white. Its flavor is similar to common thyme, making it suitable for culinary use as well. This thyme’s striking foliage brightens up herb gardens, rockeries, and containers. It blooms with lavender-pink flowers in early summer and thrives in sunny, dry areas. Silver thyme is not just beautiful — it’s also drought-tolerant and low-maintenance.

8. Doone Valley Thyme (Thymus ‘Doone Valley’)

Doone Valley Thyme is a hybrid variety known for its aromatic, lemon-scented leaves and attractive variegated foliage. The leaves display splashes of yellow and green, adding color even when not in bloom. In summer, it produces clusters of bright pink flowers that attract pollinators. It’s ideal for sunny borders, rock gardens, or container arrangements, providing both fragrance and visual appeal.

9. Archers Gold Thyme (Thymus citriodorus ‘Archers Gold’)

For a golden touch in your herb garden, consider Archers Gold Thyme. This variety features golden-yellow foliage with a lemony aroma and flavor. Its bright leaves add cheer to garden beds and containers, while its culinary use makes it a dual-purpose favorite. Like other thymes, it thrives in well-drained soil and full sun, blooming with tiny pink flowers that draw bees and butterflies.

10. Elfin Thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’)

Elfin Thyme is a miniature, slow-growing variety with dense mats of tiny, dark green leaves. Its dainty lavender-pink flowers appear in midsummer, creating a charming carpet effect. While not typically used in cooking due to its tiny size, Elfin Thyme is ideal for fairy gardens, between stepping stones, or as groundcover in rock gardens. It’s low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, and thrives in full sun.

Final Thoughts

Adding thyme to your herb garden brings more than just flavor to your dishes — it adds beauty, fragrance, and benefits to your outdoor space. From the citrusy notes of Lemon Thyme to the visual appeal of Silver Thyme, there’s a variety for every purpose and style. Plant a mix of culinary and ornamental thymes for a garden that’s both functional and delightful.