A few flowers in my cactus garden on my balcony in Marseille; this plant works in fives (five main flowers, ten off-shoots). But the aromatics (lavender, thyme and rosemary) have again failed. These plants survive in abundance in the harsh conditions on the calcaire mountainsides of Provence so I’m disappointed that specimens from nurseries can’t take the more reasonable conditions I’ve offered them.
Looking into this further, there are more than 300 species of Thymus. The garden centres sell Thymus vulgaris, Common Thyme; Out on the rocks the sub-species which is rampant is Thymus serpyllum, Breckland Thyme or Creeping Thyme (French serpolet), for which the cultivation advice is to avoid a soil which is too rich. So maybe that’s my next try, but I think the real problem is that these youngish plants need regular light watering until they have become established.
