Mongolian Blue Chives - Allium nutans

Recently I obtained a tiny plant of Allium nutans. These plants have several common names including "blue chives", "Siberian chives", "Mongolian blue chives", etc.

Apparently these perennial onions grow wild in Siberia, Mongolia, parts of China, and several surrounding places where they are collected and used as food. They are said to be extremely hardy and easy to grow. For some reason Mongolian blue chives are rare in Australia and very few people have even heard of them. 

Blue chives are an edible plant that have flat leaves which look similar to garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) except blue chives are more of a blue green. This perennial onion tastes much like regular onion chives (Allium schoenoprasum) and can be used as a substitute for onion chives. The flowers are meant to be edible but I haven’t tried them so can’t comment.

Mongolian Blue Chives

Various different forms of blue chives exist, some are meant to be better than others, the one I have is an unnamed variety that seems pretty good so far. I don't think any of the named forms are grown in Australia, finding this species at all was very difficult as it is so rarely grown here.

Several interspecific hybrids with Allium nutans also exist, some have large flat leaves and others having interesting flowers, I am not sure if any hybrids are in Australia at the moment. 

Blue chives divide into several plants throughout their growing season, these can be separated and planted out or allowed to naturalise and form a clump. Mine sare yet to flower, the flowers I have seen on the internet are very pretty and are said to attract insect pollinators.

Apparently blue chives set viable seed easily and I am told they are simple to grow from seed. Nowhere seems to sell seed but I am not sure of the reason behind this. Once my plants flower I plan to grow out as many seeds as it produces so I can build up its numbers.

Blue chives

While several interspecific hybrids currently exist, I have no idea how difficult blue chives would be to cross with other allium species. I would love to try hybridising this in the future, but may never get around to it for a number of reasons. 

Much like all my perennial onions, I grow blue chives organically and don’t have any issues with pests or diseases. I imagine there are probably a few things that could kill them but I am lucky enough that they are not in my garden. 

Like most other vegetables I grow them in full sun, and I water them often if I can.  I ran out of water over summer and didn't water them very much.  So far they have coped really well with frosts as well as summer heat.

If you want to grow a unique perennial vegetable that looks like garlic chives, tastes like onion chives, and no one else is growing, then blue chives are for you.

Mine have divided a little since the above pictures, but I still don't have very many of them.  When I have built up their numbers and have a few plants to spare, or if my plants produce seed and I have some extra, I will list them on my for sale page.

Papalo days to harvest

Papalo is an ancient herb that is commonly grown and eaten in South and Central America but is practically unheard of here.  Finding seeds of this amazing herb in Australia was far more difficult than I had imagined.

Papalo has a unique and intense taste, it is often used as a substitute for coriander leaf but they taste different.  Young papalo leaves are mild and older leaves are more potent.  I love the taste of papalo, it is one of my absolute favourite edible herbs.

Unlike coriander, papalo grows well in the heat of summer.  It is said to be drought tolerant, but mine wilts badly on hot days and picks up nicely after it gets a bit of water.

Papalo leaf showing oil glands

There is a bit of confusion over the binomial name, I a told they were Porophyllum coloratum but there is a chance that they may be a different form of Porophyllum ruderale.  Until I am a little more certain I will only list the genus.

I planted two batches of seed, both had dreadfully low germination rates, which is meant to be common in papalo.  Papalo grows vigorously and its smell/taste is remarkably strong so you only really need 1 or 2 plants.  This summer was incredibly harsh so these days to maturity may not be representative of an average year.

Days to maturity papalo (Porophyllum sp)

Seeds planted       17/08/2019       Day 0
Germinated           03/09/2019      Day 17

These died off before the first true leaf stage so I planted another batch. I think heat/sun killed them.  I gave the second set of seeds protection from the afternoon sun, and they fared much better.  In a less intense year they would do fine with full sun, but this year we skipped spring and went straight from winter into a raging summer which isn't great for small seedlings.


Seeds planted       01/11/2019      Day 0
Germinated          18/11/2019      Day 17
Harvest start         22/12/2019      Day 51
Flowering             28/03/2020       The growing conditions are not ideal, I assume they should flower earlier than this

Papalo starting to flower

I started to harvest earlier than I should, but I couldn't wait to taste papalo.  I am guessing a decent harvest would have started around day 80.

Click here for a full list of vegetable days to maturity when grown from seed, this includes vegetables, fruiting vegetables, culinary herbs, berries, and carnivorous plants.

Quillquiña days to harvest

Quillquiña (also spelled quilquiña, quillquina, quilquina, and probably a few other ways) is an ancient herb that is similar to papalo.  While papalo is virtually unheard of in Australia quillquiña is even less common and no one seems to know of it.  They smell and taste pretty similar to me.

I was told that they are classified as Porophyllum ruderale but there is some confusion over the binomial name, and there is some confusion regarding if this is a different variety of papalo, or a different subspecies, or a different yet highly similar species.


Much like papalo these seeds displayed a dreadfully low germination percentage this year, but this is meant to be representative of these herbs so I was expecting it.

Please note that the days to maturity listed were recorded in my garden in Australia, these numbers will be slightly different under different weather conditions and different years.  They are intended only to provide an indicative guide.

Days to maturity quillquiña (Porophyllum sp)

Seeds planted       17/08/2019       Day 0
Germinated           03/09/2019      Day18
Similar to my papalo, these seedlings all died when tiny so I planted another batch.  I gave the second set of seeds protection from the afternoon sun and they survived and went to to produce large plants.  In a less intense year they would do fine with full sun, but this year broke many heat records.

Days to maturity quillquiña (Porophyllum sp)

Seeds planted       01/11/2019      Day 0
Germinated          19/11/2019      Day 18
Harvest start         29/01/2020      Day 89
Flower start          01/04/2020

Quillquiña, they were larger than this when I started to harvest the leaves

For a full list of vegetable days to maturity when grown from seed, including herbs, berries, and carnivorous plants, please click here.

Summer Coriander, Papalo, and Quillquina

Here in Australia (and a few other countries) we refer to the leaf of Coriandrum sativum as ‘coriander’, and the seeds/fruits of the same plant as ‘coriander seeds’.  In North America and a few other countries people usually refer to the leaf of this plant as ‘cilantro’ and call the seeds/fruit ‘coriander’.  For clarity, any time you see the term ‘coriander’ being used in this blog post I am referring to the leaf and/or entire plant of C sativum.

Some people hate coriander, others love it, there appear to be very few people in between.  Some people have a mutation in their OR6A2 gene, these people strongly dislike the smell of coriander leaves.  Other people do not have this mutation, these people tend to love coriander.  I am in the latter group.  I really love the smell of coriander.

Coriander is at its best when fresh, it doesn’t store or dry very well.  Small pots of hydroponically grown coriander are often found in supermarkets, they are better than nothing but usually the smell is weak and diluted.  For these reasons, to have decent coriander you must grow your own.

Coriander has a bad reputation for being finicky and difficult to grow.  It dislikes being transplanted and often bolts to flower if the roots are disturbed even if the plant is tiny.  Coriander is best used in summer meals, yet it dislikes heat and will flower within days if the temperature is too high or if the weather changes too fast.  To make matters worse, many places sell seed of ‘slow bolt’ coriander that is not slow to bolt.  To help overcome this you can plant coriander seed and only save seed from the slowest to bolt in your garden.

Most varieties of coriander are extremely inbred and display little to no genetic diversity, so improving coriander can be a long journey with frustratingly small gains.  To help overcome this I deliberately crossed about a dozen varieties from several different countries.  I had originally planned on selecting for slow bolting but am deliberately maintaining it as a genetically diverse grex so people can grow it and select for slower bolting themselves.  Grow them, eat them, enjoy them, and kill off every plant that flowers early.   With this amount of genetic diversity it won’t take long before you have a variety that you created yourself to be the most productive in your garden.

Unfortunately, there is only so much heat coriander will cope with.  When it gets hot and dry coriander bolts to flower and set seed.  Unfortunately it is when the weather is hot that I want coriander, so I am searching for coriander substitutes.  I searched the internet and was told things like parsley or thyme can be used as substitutes, which they can’t.  Parsley and thyme are not even remotely similar to coriander.

In the past I grew ‘perennial coriander’ (Eryngium foetidum) which tasted similar to real coriander but I lost it in a move and have not been able to get another.  The leaves were also a bit tough for my liking but that may have been due to the growing conditions.   I thought about getting another one, and I probably will one day, but for now I am trying something else.

Papalo underside of leaf

Papalo top of leaf

Recently I got seed for some herbs named papalo and quillquiña.  They have many common names including "Papaloquelite", "Butterfly leaf", “Bolivian coriander” and “Mexican coriander”.

Unlike true coriander, papalo and quillquiña are said to love the heat.  They never bolt to seed in hot weather.  I have seen them described as being like summer loving, strongly scented, heat resistant coriander.  That sounded like it was worth a try.

Other than overseas seed sellers and a few confused foodies on cooking/travel sites there is little information about papalo and quillquiña on the internet.

The place I bought them from lists papalo as Porophyllum coloratum and quilquiña as Porophyllum ruderale.  I am not certain that these are the correct species.

Papalo young plant

Most overseas sellers either list both as varieties of Porophyllum ruderale, or they use the term papalo and quillquiña interchangeably for the same plant.  Other people claim this is one species with a narrow leaf form (papalo) and a wide leaf form (quillquiña).

Unfortunately there is little information available, and most of it is contradictory, so I don't know.  I know they are both from the genus Porophyllum, but don’t know what species they are or if they are the same species or not.

Quillquiña seedlings - one is green the other has some purple

Quillquiña growing larger

I found one reference claiming papalo and quillquiña to be subspecies that cross pollinate easily.   This person who said this claimed one flowered early and the other late, and once the early one set seed he would remove any further flowers to prevent it crossing with the later flowering one.  I am not sure if any of this is true.

The person I got seeds from lists papalo and quillquiña as separate species.  I asked the seller if they will cross pollinate and he said he attempted to cross pollinate them by hand but has not been successful.  As far as he knows they cannot cross pollinate.

Again, I don't know if this is true or not.  All I know is that the person who sold me the seeds in as honest bloke and was answering my questions to the best of his knowledge

Papalo - also called 'butterfly leaf' because the leaves flutter in the wind

Papalo with blue green leaves

I don't know what to think and hope to learn more in the future.  This summer has been hot and dry and horrible, but my papalo has grown well.  If my plants flower this year I hope to save seed as this is not a plant I ever wish to be without.

Papalo leaves - note the oil glands

Papalo and quillquiña are often used as coriander substitute, but they taste different to coriander.  They have a strong undescribable smell and a unique taste that I love.

Papalo and quillquiña taste much like each other, but they have different shaped leaves.  They smell rather intense, and I really like them.  Now that I have tried them I almost crave them.

Many people rave about how great papalo is. Some chefs refuse to be without papalo.  I have been told that in parts of Mexico papalo is kept on restaurant tables in glass of water so people can use them to spice up their food similar to how salt and pepper are found on restaurant tables in Australia.  I can understand that, I would probably go to a restaurant if I knew they had papalo.

Some people, like me, love the intense flavour of papalo.  Other people hate these herbs with a vengeance and describe them as smelling similar to skunk urine.  I don’t know if people who have a mutation in their OR6A2 gene and hate coriander also hate papalo and quillquiña, judging from the strongly polarised reception these herbs get I am assuming so.  Then again, my son loves coriander and hates papalo so perhaps there is more to this?

I have a lot to learn about these herbs, I hope they grow well in my climate and that at least one of them is useful as a summer coriander substitute. I will always grow coriander as it is one of my favourite herbs and papalo is not an exact match, but it would be nice to have something else to grow for when the weather is too extreme for coriander to thrive.

If I am able to save enough seed in autumn I will try to offer it through my for sale page.   While I am told that they won't cross I am not certain.  They do both smell the same, so if they can cross the resultant seedlings should taste the same but have different shaped leaves.

Savory herb (Satureja species)

Several years ago I was at a plant nursery looking over their various herbs. Among the usual collection of common herbs were ‘winter savory’ and ‘summer savory’. They both looked similar to one another, they smelled relatively similar. I tasted both (yeah, I am that guy) and I liked them. They were both relatively similar to thyme, I already had thyme and I had never eaten savory before so I didn’t get either of them.

Savory, both winter and summer, taste different enough from thyme that they are worth growing. Unlike thyme, savory plants are rarely offered for sale in Australia for some reason. It took me a few years to see either of them again and be able to grow them. I am glad that I did eventually find them again, they are great little herbs.

Overseas savory is often sold in bunches in supermarkets with other fresh herbs, and many people would not know how to cook without it. For some reason savory is relatively unknown in Australia and I have occasionally seen it for sale dried and never in fresh bunches.

Very few people in Australia have every tasted savory, and even fewer have been lucky enough to grow savory. Hopefully that will start to change and more people will be able to eat savory as it adds something special to a meal that thyme is missing.

Savory looks similar to thyme with slightly larger leaves

I find it interesting when I talk to anyone know knows what savory is, they all seem to love savory and most have strong opinions about which type is the best. Some prefer the bolder stronger flavour profile of winter savory, while others love the more subtle and sweeter summer savory. Savory isn’t like polarising herbs such as coriander leaf, it isn’t an acquired taste, and everyone who has eaten savory seems to like it.

Savory can be used fresh or dried in any meal where you would normally use any herbs. We tend to only use it fresh, but that is because I have it growing and it is easier to pick it and use it now rather than think ahead and dry some. I am a better gardener than I am a cook, so rather than try to tell you how to cook with savory I will tell you how I grow it.

Savory is a typical Mediterranean herb, by that I mean it likes full sun and doesn’t need much care. I don’t know if it suffers pests or diseases because mine never have. I grow everything organically, I don’t use the organic poisons, if something is hit by pests or something it may be for the best that I let it die off. Savory plants look and behave a lot like thyme plants. Mine never grows very tall, maybe a little over 20 cm, it slowly spreads but I can’t imagine it ever being invasive.

Like many herbs, regular harvesting seems to make these plants more productive by encouraging leaf growth and delaying flowering. I try not to harvest summer savory too late in the season as I want them to set seed for next year. Normally this isn’t an issue and there are a few plants I didn’t know I had that are flowering somewhere safe.

When harvesting savory you could somehow remove individual leaves, but that sounds like far too much effort. Just like thyme we just cut off sprigs and roughly strip the leaves from them. These sprigs usually have a few leaves still attached, the mostly leafless sprigs can then be planted in soil, or put in a cup of water, where they will act as cuttings and provide you with more plants. Both summer savory and winter savory can grow from cuttings in this way.

Savory flowers are similar to thyme flowers

The two most commonly found varieties are summer savory and winter savory, I grow them both as they are different enough from each other and both nice enough that they have earned a spot in my garden. I also grow the rarer and really delightful lemon savory.

Summer and winter savory are very similar species that to the best of my knowledge won’t hybridise. They both grow into small plants, they both have tiny fragrant edible leaves, and the little flowers are loved by bees and other insect pollinators.

Summer savory (Satureja hortensis) is an annual plant that will grow in spring, flower in summer and autumn, and die off completely before winter. While it is really simple to grow from seed, summer savory seeds are tiny and difficult to collect so I just leave it alone and it seems to self-sow happily. I love growing things that self-seed for me as it means I don’t have to think about them too much, it also means each year selective pressure is applied and they become better adapted to my garden. You can also grow summer savory by cuttings during the warmer months. Summer savory has a delicate and sweet aroma that some people simply adore.

Winter savory (Satureja montana) looks much the same as summer savory, but is a perennial. This grows all year, albeit slower in winter, and can grow from cuttings. They also produce tiny seeds that are difficult to collect, so I normally grow it from cuttings which is far easier. Winter savory has a stronger more peppery aroma that some people prefer. Even if you prefer summer savory it is worth growing this so you always have some form of fresh savory to use.

Lemon savory - my favourite savory

I also grow lemon savory. I am told that there are a few different types of lemon savory, the one I grow appears to be a lemon scented form of winter savory (Satureja montana citriodora). Lemon savory is by far my favourite type of savory! I told you everyone has strong preferences when it comes to savory. With its clear clean lemon taste I prefer this to lemon thyme. This herb looks like the other varieties of savory and is perennial. As they are the same species, lemon savory will cross with regular winter savory, so if saving seed you need to take care. If you propagate these from cuttings (as I recommend you do) then there is no need to worry about trying to keep these two varieties of winter savory apart.

Savory herb is very simple to grow and tastes great. At the moment savory plants are difficult to find in Australia. When I have extra plants I will probably sell a few different varieties of savory and list them on my for sale page.

Mentha australis - native river mint

A number of years ago I found a small herb for sale that was labelled as: native river mint - Mentha australis. There are about 25 species and countless interspecific hybrids and varieties of mint (Mentha), only about six species are endemic to Australia.

I had always heard that there were a few species of mint native to the area I lived, I spent much of my life outside in the bush and have looked for them but I had never actually seen one in the wild.

This native river mint plant was small, it had long thin wiry stems, it only had a few leaves and they were all rather small. Overall this plant looked pretty weak. I smelled one of the leaves and it smelled strongly like peppermint. That was enough to make me try growing native river mint.

I bought this plant and excitedly took it home that day. I did some research and it appears to be correctly labelled. Even though I had never seen one in the wild it is indeed one of the species that is, or at least was, native to my area. Who knows, perhaps these are locally extinct in the wild now.

Typical stems of native river mint

From what I read this plant used to be really common and was used as bush tucker or medicine as well as food for the first Europeans. Native river mint is pretty rare in the bush now, it is said to persist as seeds in the soil on ephemeral flood plains where it springs up after rains and may be lucky to flower and drop seed before it is grazed to death. I still hope to see it growing in the wild near a stream one day and I plan to take a small cutting if it is growing where that is allowed.

I grew my plant in a pot sitting in some water, many types of mint have huge weed potential as they spread by underground runners as well as drop masses of incredibly tiny seeds. Mine grew rather well as an emergent water plant with the roots in water and the leaves in the air, it grew far better as a normal terrestrial plant that is never submerged and is just watered infrequently. Like most types of mint, this needs a bit of water to really flourish. Native river mint does spread by runners, and it does set tiny little seeds, but it doesn’t seem to spread very far by itself and doesn’t appear to pose a weed threat. While I don’t have any seedlings from seed fall I assume the seeds are viable. Perhaps it may need a second (genetically different) plant in order to set seed, but I doubt it.

Native river mint is a civilised variety of mint that is simple to contain and if you put in some work can actually be grown in the garden without it taking over. You can’t honestly say that about many varieties of mint!

Native river mint leaves - front and back

Based on what I have seen from growing this for a few years I can say that native river mint always has long thin stems, and always has small leaves, this appears to be its normal growth habit. The small leaves smell and taste very strongly of peppermint, and are simple to strip from the stems for use. My plant always has leaves and does not appear overly bothered by heavy frosts.

I assume it is very healthy to eat but have no evidence of this. My kids enjoy herbal tea made from native river mint and sometimes they mix different herbs together. I grow a lot of different herbs and things so they have plenty of choice.

I have never tried to collect/grow its seed so can’t comment on how easy they germinate or how much diversity they have from seed or even if one plant can set seed without cross pollinating.

Native river mint is native to my area, which means that if its seed ever gets into bush land it will actually be a good thing and it won't be adding to the weed burden in the area.

These grow very easily from cuttings, I take cuttings of this when I remember and they root easily in moist soil or even in a glass of water.

Mentha australis cuttings ready to plant

Native river mint flowers for me each year and feeds several species of native bees and other native insect pollinators. They possibly also feed honey bees but I have yet to see them working its flowers, which means it is not their preferred source of food so the native bees get a greater share of its nectar and pollen resources.

Many of our country’s native bees and other insect pollinators are becoming increasingly rare. I don’t know if this is due to competition by introduced honey bees, or lack of suitable foods due to land being cleared for housing/crops, or lack of appropriate nest sites, or wide scale pesticide use, or any number of factors. Many of the native plants people grow are not native to this area and have larger flowers and are very attractive to honey bees. Growing small flowering native plants such as native river mint provides suitable food for native insects and may give them a competitive advantage over the larger and more aggressive honey bees. By growing organically you are not adding to the pressures these native insects face from wide scale pesticide use.

Perhaps growing small native plants like this organically will help the local ecology in a small way. If enough people in an area grew one or two things like this I think it would make a big difference. Native river mint is a useful edible herb that is easy to grow and doesn’t pose a weed threat, which in itself makes them worth growing. If growing native mint helps the local ecology in some way then that is an added bonus.

Native river mint is simple to grow, is good to eat, is good for the environment, but can be difficult to find for sale because few people know about it. I sell native river mint plants through my for sale page and can post it to much of Australia.

The best culinary thyme variety: Jekka's Thyme

I have a (possibly bad) habit of growing new and interesting vegetables. Some things grow exceptionally well for me, other things I can’t get them to crop at all. Sometimes they taste amazing and earn themselves a permanent place in my garden each year from them on, others aren’t all that great and I decide not to grow them again.

About a dozen years ago I grew yacon, I have kept dividing the same plant since then and have brought it with me as I moved house time and time again. I grew some skirret years ago and it has earned a permanent place in my yard, I can’t recommend this delicious and hardy vegetable highly enough.

Other things such as maca (Lepidium meyenii) I really enjoyed, but they never cropped all that well for me and couldn’t cope with the endless furnace like blasting dry heat when we lived in the Central West so I had to let them go, they may do well now I live in a cooler region again.

Some of the annual vegetables (or perennials that I grew like annuals) such as some fancy varieties of eggplant sounded great but really didn’t perform for me in my garden so have never been grown since.Others have been so great I grow them every single year.

A few years ago I tracked down a bunch of different varieties of edible thyme. I wrote a blog post comparing thyme varieties and showing pictures of their leaves near a ruler for scale. They have all grown well for me, and I am rather fond of most of them, but one variety of thyme in particular is far more vigorous and useful than any of the others.

Jekka's thyme forming a dense carpet

Jekka’s thyme was bred by a well-known herb breeder by the name of Jekka McVicar. I can understand why the breeder would want their name associated with such an outstanding variety. I believe Jekka's thyme won a bunch of awards at various horticultural shows, I would try to list them but really don’t think they mean a great deal. I have a feeling that winning these awards often has more to do with marketing than with the quality of a plant, I have bred some remarkable new vegetable varieties but wouldn’t know how to even enter these competitions.

Jekka's thyme smells and tastes strongly of thyme, which is the main reason I grow thyme. Plants produce comparatively large leaves (for thyme), and even without trimming they produce a lot of them. Most of the larger leaf varieties of thyme seem to struggle in the heat far more than the smaller leaf varieties. Jekkas thyme grows rather dense and casts a lot of shade on the soil, which appears to help it stand up to the heat surprisingly well for a larger leaf variety. Like most varieties of thyme they respond well to regular harvesting.

Jekka's thyme on the right (tabor thyme on the left)

One thing that surprised me was how fast and dense Jekkas thyme grows, they grow into a thick blanket of leaves and branches which cover the soil surface completely. As it is so thick, Jekkas thyme could probably be grown as a deep living mulch around taller plants or container grown fruit trees. I have a feeling that this would work well in pots long term.

Like most varieties of thyme they flower well, and the flowers are moderately attractive to honey bees and various native pollinators. The flowers look and smell like the flowers of most other varieties of edible thyme – dense clusters that are pink and tiny.

Jekka's Thyme Flowers

One thing I particularly like about this variety is how fast and how far Jekka's thyme spreads. They grow faster than any other variety I have grown, they are reasonably low growing, and any node that touches soil seems to set down roots quickly. The plant can be cut at this point and the new plantlet dug and moved, or it can be left where it is to keep expanding. Like most varieties of thyme they also grow easily from cuttings. Jekkas thyme seems to grow a lot faster than any other variety I have seen, I have one patch that has spread more than a meter and a half from the original plant in one single year!

Frosts down to about -10 do not appear to bother Jekka's thyme, it doesn’t really get colder than that here so I can’t comment about its survival in colder temperatures.

Jekka's thyme in the frost

People sometimes ask me about fertilisers and so forth. Honestly I can’t provide advice with that as I don’t use them. I fertilise when I prepare the garden bed by digging in homemade compost or manure from our animals. I water these plants over summer, and sometimes remove weeds, but that is all. I have never seen any pest or disease issues, I assume these issues can happen with Jekka's thyme but I haven’t encountered them yet.

In my opinion Jekka's thyme is a superior variety.  The only difficult part about growing Jekkas thyme is actually finding plants for sale.

Please don’t ever waste your money on seeds of Jekka’s thyme as they won’t grow like the parent. Most will be smaller and less vigorous, some may almost be as good as the parent. You are better off buying a plant as you will be sure of its quality.

I sell small bare rooted Jekka's thyme plants (or vigorously growing rooted cuttings depending on timing) and can post them to most of Australia. If you are interested they are listed on my for sale page along with other perennial vegetables, edible herbs, and heirloom vegetable seeds.

Thyme progress

For some reason it is difficult to find many named varieties of thyme in Australia.  For some reason it is almost impossible to find any comparisons of thyme varieties.  Plant nurseries write such lovely things about their plants, but an honest side by side comparison is practically unheard of.

Last year I wrote a post comparing some thyme varieties to highlight the differences between them.  To expand on that, below are comparative pictures of the growth after about 6 months.  The pictures were taken at the beginning of spring after the plants had survived winter.

I wish I had planted them further apart, but I needed the space so they are cramped together.  The small pots contain cuttings of each variety.  You can see how each of the varieties of thyme grew compared to the others.  They are probably each double that size now and have started to flower.

Four varieties of thyme growing side by side.  It is pretty obvious that Jekka's thyme is larger and stronger than the other varieties.  It goes outside of the picture to the left somewhat.

Left to right: Jekka's thyme, Tabor thyme, Variegated lemon thyme, Orange peel thyme

Comparison of Thyme varieties

I have grown a bunch of different varieties of edible thyme over the years.  I haven’t disliked any but some are better than others.  Since writing this post I have done a better comparison of Jekkas thyme, have a look if you are interested.

I have always wanted someone to do a comparison of the different varieties of thyme, but the best I can find are some general words or exaggerated hype about just one variety, but no comparisons.  So I decided to write a quick comparison of some varieties I have grown and take some pictures to compare them. 

Before you read this please note the leaf size will vary on each plant depending on growing conditions, the photos will only give you a general comparison of plants grown under similar conditions.  All of the below varieties have survived for me through many harsh frosts, snow, and hail.

Each year I tend to cut the plants down pretty hard in spring, this encourages new growth and the trimmings can be planted and will usually grow new plants if watered a little.  Like many other leaf herbs, frequent harvests encourage it to produce and if left unharvested they can get a bit woody and unproductive.

All were same sized cuttings planted on the same day: Variegated lemon thyme, Orange peel thyme, Tabor thyme, Jekka's thyme

  
Comparison of Thyme varieties:

Regular thyme (aka Garden Thyme Thymus vulgaris) is a good edible herb, not surprisingly it smells and tastes of thyme.  The leaves are tiny and green.  It is meant to be drought hardy and frost hardy.  For some strange reason I have trouble growing it.  Random things happen that can’t be the fault of the variety such as my kids pull it up or the pot gets knocked over and one of the kids kicks it under a shrub where I can't find it.  It just hasn’t had a chance to thrive for me.  It is not included in the comparison photo as it looks tiny in its pot.  It is simple to strip the tiny leaves from the twigs. 

Silvery posy thyme (Thymus sp) is a lovely edible thyme.  The leaves are the same size as regular thyme but are variegated and interesting.  We grew it for years, it smells and tastes and is used just like regular thyme but is far prettier.  Mine was vigorous and strong, unfortunately being variegated means it does not cope with hot dry weather as well as all green varieties can.  After growing it in an arid climate with one too many weeks in a row where day time temperatures exceeded 40 Celsius it died, and I didn’t replace it.  Now that we have moved near Canberra I should get another one as it grows well here and I miss it.  

Thyme leaves back and front, from left to right: Garden thyme, Lemon thyme, Variegated lemon thyme, orange peel thyme, Jekka's thyme, Tabor thyme

Thyme comparison from left to right: lemon thyme (this plant is older than the rest), variegated lemon thyme, orange peel thyme, Tabor thyme, Jekka's thyme

Lemon thyme (Thymus citriodorus) is another great edible herb.  I have been growing my plant for over 9 years, it takes strong frost and heat/drought and has survived for me through some rather extreme conditions.  It has tiny leaves of a similar size to regular garden thyme that are green and smell like thyme and lemon.  Stripping the tiny leaves from the twigs is simple.  This plant is usually very productive and very hardy in heat and cold.

Left to right: Tabor Thyme, Variegated Lemon Thyme, Jekka's Thyme

Left to right: Garden thyme, Lemon thyme, Variegated lemon thyme, orange peel thyme

Variegated lemon thyme (Thymus citriodorus) tastes and smells the same as lemon thyme but the leaves are variegated.  Variegation varies from leaf to leaf and from branch to branch, some branches are whiter than others.  It probably does not take extreme heat as well as the green form, but it is a little prettier.  Stripping the tiny leaves form the stems is simple.  I will probably grow more of this as it is useful and pretty.

Left to right: Orange peel thyme, Jekka's thyme, Tabor thyme

Orange peel thyme (Thymus nitidus) is a low growing edible thyme that smells like a mix of thyme and spices.  Sometimes it smells a lot like orange peel, other times less orangey and more spicey.  The leaves are thinner than regular thyme, but still tiny and green.  Stripping the leaves from the stems is not as easy as regular thyme but not overly difficult.  This is not only edible but people also use it to create a fragrant thyme lawn.  It is a bit of a slow growing thyme until established.

Tabor thyme on left, Jekka's thyme in right

Jekka's thyme (Thymus sp) is a strong growing edible thyme with relatively long leaves that are green.  This has a strong thyme smell and taste.  Jekka's thyme is a vigorous grower that doesn’t take long to grow into a large plant.  I assume that it would not take extreme heat as well as smaller leaf forms.  When the stems are young and green it is difficult to strip leaves from the stems, as they get woodier this is no longer a problem.

Tabor thyme (Thymus sp) is another strong growing, vigorous edible herb.  It has the largest leaves I have seen on a thyme plant and is the fastest growing thyme I have grown.  It has a strong thyme smell and taste.  When young it is difficult to strip large leaves from soft stems, as the plant gets older the stems get stronger and this becomes simpler.  Tabor thyme is not well suited to hot arid climates and suffers a bit due to its larger soft leaves.


Where to buy culinary thyme plants
Most garden shops tend to sell thyme, sometimes they have different varieties.  I really should take some cuttings and sell some of the thyme varieties that I have through my for sale page as some of the thyme varieties I grow were difficult to come by but are really rather good. 

Mint Varieties

There are many different varieties of mint, I have grown some over the years and currently grow a few.  I plan to increase the varieties I grow as I find nice varieties.  There are also a few herbs that are related to mint (or are completely unrelated to mint but have mint in the common name) that I grow. 

Unless you are attempting to breed a new variety, mint is best grown from cuttings or division as seed grown mint tends to grow variable plants.  When grown from seed some plants may have a strong scent, others weak, and a whole lot of substandard plants in between.  All mint varieties enjoy moisture, they grow best in cool damp climates but still perform ok in hot and dry climates if watered often and given some shade. 

All mint varieties have a tendency to become invasive and spread by underground rhizomes.  Some are far more aggressive than others.  This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you manage it.  I have heard people advise to dig a hole and plant a pot of soil in which to grow mint.  I have seen mint escape from this and take over gardens so I grow mint in pots and keep the pots on pavers or concrete.  For me, mint’s aggressive growth is a good thing.  I am mindful not to allow it to escape, so the aggressive growth makes it incredibly forgiving and productive even in a small space.

People grow mint to attract pollinating insects, but I don’t recommend doing this at all.  Some varieties of mint will drop viable seed, sometimes thousands of tiny viable seeds, and seed grown mint is often inferior to the parent.  The seeds are tiny and almost impossible to find.  Mint also tends to change smell and taste when it flowers.  For these reasons I always try to remove the flowers.  Sure the bees like it, but they also like a lot of other things that flower at the same time that won't cause me any problems. 

Some varieties of mint will die down over winter, others will forge through unharmed.  Mints are perennial and so far they all survive winter here and happily grow for me as the weather warms. 

I have heard of people who grow several varieties of mint in the same garden bed, this is a very bad idea.  Normally one variety is stronger and takes over eventually leaving you with only one type of mint growing.  People often get confused and think that the different varieties alter each other by growing too close and they are left with strange smelling plants, which is not the case.  Sometimes the mints flower, they cross pollinate with one another, and drop seed.  Most of these seeds will grow odd smelling plants.  One of these vigorous seedlings will eventually take over and all the other mint plants will eventually die off.  Quite often this seed grown plant does not smell great, which is where the confusion comes from.  I grow mint in pots and try to prevent flowering so as to avoid this type of problem.  

Below are some of the mint varieties that I am currently growing and am happy with.  I am still trialing some others, some are looking pretty good so far, others will be composted if they are not nice enough or productive enough or useful enough.

Native River Mint

Native river mint (Mentha australis) has a bunch of different common names.  It used to grow naturally along much of NSW and VIC and other parts of the country along river banks and flood plains but has become pretty rare in the wild.  I have spent my life living in the natural range of this plant, and spent huge amounts of time in the outdoors for work and uni and fun, but am yet to come across this in its natural habitat.  Like any variety of mint it prefers damp places but can tolerate drier soil.  This plant smells strongly like regular peppermint and is edible.  I have heard stories that the first Europeans in Australia used this plant in their Sunday roast as well as to ease the symptoms of colds.  Being an unimproved, undomesticated species, seeds grown from this plant will be very similar to the parent but could also be used to breed a superior variety.  Native River mint is not overly invasive and will not try too hard to take over the garden.

Spearmint plant

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) was once the most commonly grown garden mint, it used to be in every garden.  The spearmint lollies that used to be in shops were based on the smell and taste of this plant.  Spearmint is edible and it smells sweet and minty.  This is the mint that people often used to make mint jelly, or to use with a roast, or to have with peas, or in various summer drinks.  It is also used to treat colds and headaches and similar things, I am not sure how effective it actually is in any of its medicinal purposes.  Spearmint is invasive and care must be taken to prevent it taking over the garden.

Peppermint plant - runners trying to escape the pot

Peppermint (Mentha X piperita) has a much stronger smell than spearmint.  It is edible and can be used in all the same ways as spearmint plus it tends to be used more often medicinally as it is stronger and contains more essential oils than spearmint.  Peppermint essential oils certainly clear the nose and can be used in a calming tea, but I am not certain of how effective it is in its other medicinal properties.  It is also used to treat wounds as it has anti-microbial properties.  I have heard that mice dislike it, but have a feeling that this is superstition and may not actually work to effectively repel mice.  Peppermint is a hybrid between two different species of mint (spearmint Mentha spicata and watermint Mentha aquatica), as such seed will produce a mix of a range of mints and none of them will be peppermint.  Please never buy any seeds from any company that sells peppermint seeds as they either know little about the seeds they are selling, or they know they are selling you rubbish and are happy to deceive you.  Peppermint is very invasive and care must be taken to prevent it taking over the garden. 

Chocolate Mint Plant

Chocolate mint (Mentha X piperita f. citrata 'Chocolate') is a chocolate smelling variant of peppermint.  It is edible and used in all the ways, culinary and medicinal, that regular peppermint is used.  As it smells like chocolate at times it is often used is drinks and deserts.  This plant changes how it smells throughout the growing season, sometimes it smells very much like chocolate, others it smells much like peppermint, sometimes when flowering I think it smells bad.  Seed grown chocolate mint are extremely variable and I think that many of them are dreadful.  To this end I do not allow it to flower and cut it to the ground when the first flower buds appear.  This plant is extremely invasive and care must be taken to prevent it taking over the garden.  

Lemon mint

Lemon mint (sold to me as Mentha 'lemon' and likely to be some complex Mentha hybrid) is a fresh lemon smelling variety of mint.  It is quite nice.  Some times of the year it smells very strongly of zesty lemon mixed with mint, other times (such as after flowering) it smells like weak mint with just a hint of lemon.  Lemon mint can be used in deserts, drinks, and any meals where lemon and/or mint works well.  I don't know anyone who has grown seed from this but assume the results would be a mix of weak peppermint and other weird things.  This plant is very invasive and care must be taken to prevent it taking over the garden. 

Variegated Apple Mint Plant

Variegated apple mint (Mentha suaveolens variegata) my plant actually died during my recent multiple moves as it was growing in a tiny pot that did not get watered for far too long.  I guess that they smell a bit like mint and a bit like apple, and it is a lot of fun.  It is used in herbal tea and refreshing drinks and in similar ways to spearmint.  Sometimes this plant will grow a branch with all green leaves, this should be removed as it will out compete the variegated parts and pretty soon you will no longer have a variegated plant.  Sometimes it will grow an all white branch, this can not photosynthesise and weakens the plant.  I don’t often remove the white branches as I like the look of them and they die off by themselves soon enough.  Having some white on the leaves means it is less aggressive than if it was all green.  This plant is invasive and care must be taken to prevent it taking over the garden.

Chinese artichoke flowering

Chinese Artichoke tuber sprouting

Chinese artichokes (Stachys affinis) are a rare perennial vegetable that is referred to as a ‘tuberous mint’.  They are not grown for their leaves but are grown for the white edible tubers underground.  This plant looks much like mint but the leaves do not really smell like anything.  It prefers cool climates and can have erratic yields in warmer gardens.  They sometimes flower but are very reluctant to set seed so I don’t bother to remove them.  This plant would benefit from breeding or ploidy manipulation to increase tuber size.  The tubers are crunchy, slightly sweet and look like little grubs so kids enjoy eating them (they call the "sweet grubs").  It is difficult to find this plant anywhere, but it is highly invasive so care must be taken to prevent it taking over the garden.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is not a mint, but is related to mint.  It smells like lemon, is edible and used medicinally for a range of things.  We have used it in cooking and I am told it makes a nice herbal tea.  Normally it smells like lemon but when flowering it is not all that nice.  This will happily seed and grow all over your garden if allowed.  I am told it does not grow underground runners, but mine do!  The runners are not as long or as aggressive as mint, but it still grows them.  This plant is invasive and care must be taken to prevent it taking over the garden.  

Lime Balm Plant

Lime balm (Melissa officinalis 'lime') is a lime smelling variant of lemon balm.  It is edible and can be used in all the same ways as lemon balm.  I have made a herbal tea from lime balm which is delicious.  Seed grown plants are highly variable and many revert to lemon smelling or even nasty soapy smelling variants.  I have not grown this long but it appears to be slightly less invasive than lemon balm, even so, care must be taken to prevent it taking over the garden. 

Vietnamese Hot Mint

Vietnamese hot mint (Persicaria odorata) is also known as Vietnamese coriander and a heap of other names and is not related to mint in any way whatsoever.  This herb smells delicious and is often used in laksa.  I grow it as an emergent water plant but am told it grows well in the garden if well watered.  It flowers but is reluctant to set seed so I don’t bother to remove them.  This is frost tender and must be protected from extreme cold.  I really like this herb and find it hard to believe how difficult it is to come by and how few people grow it in Australia.  While this plant is super easy to grow and very productive I can’t imagine it being invasive unless you live somewhere tropical in a swamp or a house boat.  I take no care to control it and have had no problems with it being invasive whatsoever. 

Vietnamese Fish Mint

Vietnamese Fish mint (Houttuynia cordata) is reasonably new to me and is not at all related to mint.  It is edible and has a long history of medicinal use and as a remedy for poisoning.  It has a rather distinctive smell and can be used in place of fish sauce and is also used in a medicinal "dokudami" herbal tea.  Mine has white single flowers and I am told that it does not set seed.  I grow the highly productive and edible green form, there is also a variegated form that is prettier and less invasive that I may try to get one day.  Growing fish mint in a pot will contain it nicely due to its inability/reluctance to produce viable seed.  One or two small pots of this herb is meant to supply more than enough for a household and it should never be planted directly in the garden otherwise it will take over and every time you mow it will smell like fish.  If planted in a pot this will not be invasive.  This is meant to be one of the most invasive herbs and great care should be taken to prevent it from taking over the entire garden (ie grow it in a pot of soil, not in the garden).

Where to buy organic mint plants in Australia
As I mentioned, please do not buy any mint seeds ever.  Please never buy anything from anyone who sells peppermint seeds.  Various garden centers and online places sell different varieties of mint. Sometimes you may find garage sales with one or two types of mint.  I sell small organically grown mint plants through the post, and the rest of the plants mentioned above, through my for sale page.