Common English culinary thyme is a staple for both culinary and medicinal uses. It is easy to grow, preferring full sun or a few hours of afternoon shade, with average garden water and excellent drainage. Thyme has small pink flowers in the spring, which are delicious to eat.
To keep thyme growing well be sure to prune heavily in the early spring, and lightly throughout the growing season. English thyme is a good choice for knot gardens.
There are many different thymes that are all Thymus vulgaris. The English thyme has larger leaves, grows to about 1 foot tall, is fairly woody, and has a well rounded thyme flavor. Compare this to German winter thyme, which is about 8 inches tall, not woody and mild flavored; or compare to French thyme, which has very small leaves and a sharp flavor.