A low mound of thyme with tiny leaves and small white flowers.
Photo: Syrio · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons From the 3532×2648 original, scaled to 467×350 and re-encoded as WebP (quality 30); metadata removed.

Thyme

Thymus vulgaris

About it

Kind
Herbs · Perennial
Family
Lamiaceae
Mature size
to 1 ft × 18 in
Hardiness zones
Zones 5–9
Sun
Full sun
Spacing
9 in apart, rows 12 in
Soil depth in a pot
At least 6 in
Soil pH
6–7.5
Water
About every 7 days

When to plant

Ready
About 70 days

Based on your last frost date. Outside the US, check local advice.

Planting partners

What has been claimed about growing Thyme near other plants, grouped by how well it has been tested. Most companion planting advice has never been tested; the notes say which is which.

Tested in field trials

  • With Broccoli Thyme planted with broccoli reduced cabbage looper and imported cabbageworm damage in an Iowa study. UMN Extension ↗

Tested in a greenhouse or lab

  • With Brussels Sprouts Thyme planted with Brussels sprouts reduced diamondback moth numbers in a greenhouse study. UMN Extension ↗

Safety for pets and children

  • Cats Listed as non-toxic to cats (NC State Extension)
  • Dogs Listed as non-toxic to dogs (NC State Extension)
  • Horses Listed as non-toxic to horses (NC State Extension)
  • Children No information in our sources

Read from NC State Extension ↗.

"No information" means our sources do not say, not that the plant is harmless. A non-toxic listing is not a reason to let anyone eat a plant.

Pests and diseases

No pest or disease notes for Thyme yet.

Check the label and your local extension service before using any product.

Where this comes from

  • family npgsweb.ars-grin.gov ↗ GRIN page: Thymus vulgaris L.
  • Most facts The Old Farmer's Almanac ↗ Backfilled by 0041. Pre-0041 rows recorded one source for the whole row; per-field attribution was never captured and is not invented here.
  • toxicity NC State Extension ↗ non_toxic for cat, dog, horse from its "non-toxic for" tags. Page matched to this row by its recorded species; not cited by the row before this batch.

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