Ornamental Oregano for Pure Pleasure
Ornamental oreganos generally have little scent of oregano and even less flavor, giving them little value in the kitchen or medicine cabinet. But where they shine is with their amazing and unusual flower power. They all share very tiny pink or violet flowers, but it is the modified flower bracts that make ornamental oreganos exciting. The modified bracts look like paper, or paper mache, and are often compared to hop flowers or pine cones. As the bracts continue to grow in the sun, they ripen to shades of deep violet and chartreuse green, gaudy and precious and dainty and slightly unreal looking. And the best part is the flowers remain in riotous color for many weeks, and often multiple times during the season if deadheaded.
All ornamental oreganos prefer full sun and excellent drainage. Most are very cold tolerant, hardy to USDA zone 4 or 5, and thrive in hot temperatures as well. We grow many varieties, and one of the favorite things to do with the flowers is to wait until they are at the perfect color and then we cut them, hang them to dry and use them in our wreath making classes. We have a row of Origanum ‘Santa Cruz’ growing just so we can harvest the flowers 3 or 4 times during the year for wreaths – they are small, soft pink with a hint of green, upright, and stunning in arrangements. Lovely in the garden to enjoy blooming as well, it grows t about 18 inches tall and 30 inches wide and the bees love it. If you want a smaller plant in your garden or container, Origanum ‘Bristol Cross’ only grows to about 12 inches and will fill a 18 inch pot, with deep violet and light green blooms that dry beautifully.
For hanging baskets, to drape over the edge of a container, or to scramble over a rock wall, there are many selections of ornamental oreganos that are perfect, and are so unusual looking that they are sure to draw attention. Our most popular selection is certainly Origanum ‘Kent Beauty’, with waxy super drought tolerant leaves and long fluffy flowering bracts of chartreuse and pink, perfect for hanging baskets, growing 1 ft tall by 2 ½ ft. Similar but more compact growing is Origanum ‘Bellissimo’, 6 inches tall and 2 ft wide, the flowers are intensely plum colored, really stunning in pots or allowed to colonize an area of the garden. For a very low growing selection, Origanum ‘Barbara Tingey’ is your girl. Growing to only 4 inches tall and 1 ft wide, the deep pink and green flowers can be 3 inches long, providing a very stunning spiller in a smaller pot. One last selection for hanging baskets is Origanum Dictamnus, or dittany of crete. Cold hardy to just zone 7,Dittany of Crete has very fuzzy grey leaves on arching branches with short flower bracts in a stunning maroon purple. Super pretty, dittany is more drought tolerant, and is sometimes used as a culinary selection, although it is very mild.
All of the ornamental selections are deer and rabbit resistant, and in the ground will fill a fairly large area. They are all herbaceous, dying completely back to the ground, and will spread to fill in if the ground is worked with a bit of compost to loosen the soil. Be sure to plant where water will not settle during the winter and cause root rot. If planting in ground once a year fertilizing is generally plenty, but in containers be sure to plant in spring and again in mid summer, and renew the soil every 2 years, dividing overgrown plants.