Origanum rotundifolium 'Barbara Tingey'

ORNAMENTAL OREGANO
Family: Lamiaceae
Pronounced: o-ree-GAH-num ro-tun-dih-FOH-lee-um

Quick Jumps

Growing Guide
Rainy Side Notes

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GROWING GUIDE

Origin:
Garden.
Plant Group:
Herbs.
Hardiness:
Sunset zones: 2b-24.
USDA zones: 7-9.
Heat zones: 9-7.
Mature size:
Height: 4 inches (10cm).
Width: 8 inches (20 cm).
Flowering period:
Summer to first frost.
Flowering attributes:
Two to three-inch long, hop-like bracts that start out a light green hue and gain a pink-tinge as it ages. Small pinkish-lavender flowers peek out between the bracts.
Leaf attributes:
Blue-green, slightly rounded heart-shaped leaves.
Growth habit:
Clump former.
Light:
Full sun.
Soil:
Extremely well-drained soil.
Feeding:
Fertilize in spring with a complete organic fertilizer.
Propagation Methods:
Divide in spring.
Basal cuttings in late spring.

 

Rainy Side Notes

A cross between Origanum rotundifolium and O. calcaratum, this oregano is not your typical kitchen herb; the flavor is weaker and more bitter than the culinary cultivars. What Origanum 'Barbara Tingey' lacks in flavor, she makes up for in the visual senses, waking you up to the exquisiteness of the ornamental oreganos. Heavy laden with showy bracts, the herb is at its best when draping down rock walls, containers or hanging baskets.

My first plant came in a hanging basket and hung in a plum tree that stands guard over the garden entrance. Later I took cuttings and potted it up in a small, purple urn. The container gave the new chartreuse bracts pizzazz. As it aged, the bracts colored up in pinkish hues and more small lavender flowers peek out from in between, also complemented by the purple container.

The herb is excellent when cut fresh for bouquets. Harvest the flowers in the morning and condition them in cool water. They take well to floral foam and will last approximately ten days. For dried flowers, cut before the bract turns brown.

Take cuttings of this oregano in spring. I took them in late summer, a less than ideal time for cuttings. Technically past prime propagating time, the cuttings rooted. They sat in their pot the following summer, remaining small and barely growing. By the third year, the starts grew quickly and flowered profusely.

More Origanums.

Photographed in author's garden.

A Pacific Northwest Plant of the Week (2012)