Creeping thyme
A mat-forming thyme of rocky, limy slopes that flowers earlier than most thymes; it supplies nectar and pollen in late spring and is a bee-friendly groundcover.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,02-0,1 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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A thyme that spreads in cushions or mats on rocky, limy and dry grassland from central and southern Europe to the Balkans, northern Anatolia and the Caucasus. Several subspecies occur in Turkey. It is a good nectar plant with a moderate pollen contribution; it does not give a large flow on its own, but where it forms large carpets it is a reliable secondary source.
Flowering
As its name suggests, it flowers a few weeks earlier than other thymes, from May to July. Bee visits peak on sunny, mild and windless days.
Honey and pollen
No separate monofloral honey is known; it adds a slightly spicy aroma to the mountain and meadow honeys it goes into.
Note for the beekeeper
It can be used instead of lawn as ground cover in dry, stony and sunny corners of the garden; it tolerates being walked on, and a light trim after flowering keeps the plant dense. At the end of spring build-up it offers the colony a small but continuous food supply.