Scottish growing tool

Thyme Variety Selector: Which One For Your Garden

Every recommendation below traces back to our full Thyme varieties comparison — this page is the fast route to one answer for your specific situation, no clicking through required.

If: Exposed, high altitude, or very windy → Groundcover, path edging, or bee-friendly planting → Bee-friendly flowers, edible too

Coccineus GroupAGM

Holds the AGM, is H5 hardy, and its dark pink, tubular summer flowers are a strong bee draw. The flowers are edible too, though the low, mat-forming habit (5 to 10cm tall) makes it awkward for the kind of regular leaf-harvesting a cook wants, so it suits groundcover, path edging, or gaps between paving better than the kitchen.

If: Exposed, high altitude, or very windy → Groundcover, path edging, or bee-friendly planting → Brighter variegation for a trough or raised bed

Doone Valley

Yellow-splashed foliage gives a distinctly different look from Silver Queen's white-edged variegation, paired with lavender-pink flowers opening from red buds. H5 hardy and mat-forming to around 10cm, but it needs very good drainage with neutral-to-alkaline soil, so a gritty raised bed or trough suits it better than heavy garden soil.

If: Exposed, high altitude, or very windy → Groundcover, path edging, or bee-friendly planting → Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice or Exposed, high altitude, or very windy → Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice or Sheltered, mild, coastal, or grown in a container → I'd rather stick with a fully hardy variety or Sheltered, mild, coastal, or grown in a container → Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice or Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice

Silver QueenAGM

Best overall pick: holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit, is rated H5 (hardy to around -15C), and combines good flavour with real winter toughness. It's also the most consistently available named variety from UK nurseries, which counts for a lot when the alternative is hunting for a specialist cultivar most garden centres don't stock.

If: Exposed, high altitude, or very windy → A different flavour from standard thyme

Caraway thyme

Offers something none of the other varieties in this comparison do: a genuinely different flavour profile, with a distinctive caraway scent and taste rather than the lemon or plain thyme notes found elsewhere. H5 hardy, with a low, mat-forming habit that suits path edges and paving crevices, where the foliage releases scent underfoot.

If: Exposed, high altitude, or very windy → Easier kitchen harvesting

Broad-leaved thyme

Rounded leaves are larger than Common thyme's and carry a good flavour, making it noticeably easier to strip and chop for the kitchen than the fine leaves of most creeping types. H5 hardy and spreads to about 25cm, sitting between the upright bushiness of Common thyme and the flat mats of the creeping varieties.

If: Exposed, high altitude, or very windy → Straightforward culinary default, no fuss

Common thyme

The plain-leaved culinary default, with a well-established reputation for flavour and H5 hardiness, sitting at the top of this comparison for reliability. It remains the standard choice, though it lacks Silver Queen's AGM and variegated interest.

If: Sheltered, mild, coastal, or grown in a container → Lemon-scented, I can give it shelter or a container

Lemon Curd

Genuine lemon scent, but rated H4 (hardy to around -10C to -5C), a step down from every other variety in this comparison, which is H5. On a sheltered, south-facing raised bed or in a container that can be moved under cover for winter, that lower hardiness is unlikely to matter much; on an exposed, high-altitude, or wind-scoured site it's a real liability.

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Thyme growing guide →Full Thyme varieties comparison →