Breckland thyme
A small creeping thyme of dry, sandy grassland; it flowers for a long time in summer and gives honey bees a steady nectar supply during lean periods.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,05-0,1 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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A small thyme that forms ground cover on sandy, lime-free dry grassland and in pine clearings from northern and central Europe to Siberia. In Russia and eastern Europe it is regarded as a typical honey plant of medium value; on pastures where it is widespread it makes a clear contribution to mixed summer honey.
Flowering
Its pink-purple flowers open from June to August. Nectar secretion rises on hot, sunny and calm days and weakens in cool, windy weather.
Honey and pollen
It gives no commercial honey on its own; it adds a pleasant, spicy aroma to the meadow honeys it goes into. Its pollen contribution is moderate.
Note for the beekeeper
In Turkey, most plants known by this name are in fact close relatives such as Thymus praecox, Thymus kotschyanus or Thymus longicaulis; true Thymus serpyllum is very limited in the country. Planting it as ground cover on dry, sandy slopes is a bee-friendly alternative to lawn.