‘Origanum’ is from the Greek words ‘oros’
When customers come to the nursery and ask for oregano, they are always surprised by the number of questions they have to answer before we can point them in the correct direction of their desired plant. Culinary or ornamental? Upright or groundcover? True oregano or Mexican or Cuban oregano? Spicy or sweet? “You know” they say, “the oregano that’s used for cooking”. This can lead to quite an adventure through the culinary plant hoophouses, because oregano is a flavor, not a plant. Ah, that is a surprise to plenty of people. There are at least 15 different plants used in the world as ‘oregano’, it just depends what kind of food you are cooking and what kind of oregano you grew up with. For this month I will focus on the culinary oregano that is actually in the Origanum genus. See the side article for information on some fun and interesting ornamental varieties of Origanum.
The genus name ‘Origanum’ is from the Greek words ‘oros’ meaning mountain, and ‘ganos’ meaning joy, hence ‘joy of the mountain’. It is native to the Mediterranean region, particularly hot, dry, rocky mountain areas. Oregano is a somewhat promiscuous genus, easy to cross pollinate, but often the results of growing out the seed give a somewhat lackluster flavor. The best way to get the desired flavor you want from this plant is to purchase plants you can smell and taste before you buy or to take cuttings from selected plants. If you do plant seeds, plant something besides Origanum vulgare, the common oregano, which has the flavor of lawn. You can find these seeds in many catalogs, but you will want selected varieties for flavorful plants.
The three primary oreganos we grow for cooking are Origanum vulgare var hirtum (Greek oregano), Origanum var hirtum ‘Hot and Spicy’ and Origanum x marjorana (Italian oregano). Italian oregano is our most popular selection, with a warm earthy flavor and a hint of sweetness. It’s a bit of a garden thug though, so be sure to plant it in an area where it has elbow room, and perhaps not your ‘best’ area of the garden. It will happily take over an entire 2 ft x 6 ft raised bed. In the ground it grows 2 ft tall and about 2 ½ ft wide. ‘Hot and Spicy’ is a low growing variety, generally growing 1 ft tall and 2 ft wide, with rounded fuzzy leaves. It is pretty spicy flavored, numbing the tongue slightly with a hot oregano-mint flavor. Greek oregano is grown from seed, and it also tends to be low growing and wide. It is similar to ‘Hot and Spicy’ with a hot, pungent flavor, but is more earthy scented. Many gardeners grow more than one type of culinary oregano, because depending what you are cooking, you will want a different flavor. I like Greek oregano for heavy meats and winter soups, and Italian oregano for pizza, chicken and salad dressings.
There are other Origanum vulgare varieties to try in your garden that are edible and are beautiful groundcovers as well. Our most popular groundcover is Origanum vulgare ‘compacta nana’, or dwarf Greek oregano. It is a dark green evergreen groundcover, growing 3 to 6 inches tall, with small light pink blooms. It is lightly aromatic of pungent oregano, and has a delicious flavor. You can also walk on it, so it is terrific to plant around stepping stones, under rose bushes, and in mixed perennial beds. If you are looking for an oregano for a shadier location, try Origanum vulgare ‘Aureum’, growing only 2 to 3 inches tall with golden yellow rounded leaves and white flowers. Flavor is very mild, perfect for chopping into salads. This is a beautiful selection for shady groundcovers, around stepping stones, and hanging out of containers. And Origanum vulgare ‘White Anniversary’ is a variegated groundcover oregano, deep green leaves edged in creamy white. This is another oregano that can fill pots or edge walkways in the shadier parts of your garden, still giving great fragrance and culinary possibilities, and lighting up a dark spacel
All of these oreganos grow in full sun and well drained soil. For most of us that means digging some compost into the soil, and if you can plant up on a bit of a mound you will assist the drainage. If you have rocky, sandy or loamy soil you can plant directly into the soil with no amendments, and if you have a clay soil be sure to amend with compost. All of the culinary oreganos grow well in containers, but after a year or two will need to be divided, as the plants will become very crowded. Generally, the center of the plant will lose vigor and die, and the portion of the plant at the edges of the pot will be better for replanting.
When you first plant your oregano, a slow release organic fertilizer would be helpful. If you are planting in ground, often plants are never actually fertilized again because they have better flavor when the plants are grown ‘lean’. Adding a layer of compost or earthworm castings around the plant each spring is often all the plant requires. In containers plants will need to be fertilized, although much less than many ornamental plants. Containers should be at least 12 inches wide and deep, so that fertilizing once every 3 months will be enough to keep your plants healthy.
Don’t forget about eating the flowers as well! Unlike annual herbs, you will want to keep the flowers on your oregano so the bees can feast. And many years ago a very old Italian woman brought me a container of dried oregano flowers to taste, telling me that was what she used for cooking, as did her mother, and her mother’s mother. I thought it was kind of crazy until I tried them. So delicious! Dried they have a warmer flavor than the leaves. And fresh oregano flowers have the benefit of a bit of sweetness from the nectar, so they are delicious additions as fresh garnishes in salads and soups. And if you don’t eat all the flowers, cut the flowering stems, hang them upside down to dry and use them in fragrant dried arrangements and edible wreaths in the winter.