Northern Nevada gardening and landscaping: Growing oregano
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Sun, 04/25/2021 - 4:56pm
Every spring my planting urges kick in, even though the maturity and size of the plants in my landscape limit available planting room — too many roots or no access to irrigation. And yet, when my friend Peggy gave me an oregano plant from her garden, I was excited to hear it’s not only hardy, but that it also spreads easily.
I hadn’t realized that oregano would tolerate our low winter night temperatures. Since voles killed a lavender plant, I actually have a spot for it too.
Origanum, the scientific name for oregano, is a member of the mint family. This square-stemmed mint relative takes full sun for the best flavor, little to moderate water in any soil that has good drainage. It attracts butterflies and bees.
Some of the species hardy in my yard’s microclimate (low teen to occasional minus zero temperatures in winter) are O. laevigatum, O. libanoticum, O. ‘Norton Gold’ (a hybrid of laevigatum and vulgare ‘Aureum’), O. rotundifolium, and O. vulgare. I think the plant I have may be the vulgare — common oregano, also known as wild marjoram. According to Peggy this plant grows to about one foot high with a mounding habit. It has dark green leaves and should get white to purplish-pink flowers in midsummer.
And, best of all, it’s edible! However, to get good flavor from the leaves, I should prune off any flower buds, which I may not want to do.
There are lots of varieties of common oregano and I don’t know what my new plant is. For example, ‘Aureum’ has white flowers and gold spring foliage that turns green by late summer. I’m pretty sure it’s not that. ‘Compactum’ grows just a few inches high, so that’s not it. It might be ‘Roseum’ which has rose-pink flowers. Sunset Western Garden Book says “Your nose is your best guide to finding a delicious oregano to grow … fragrance varies much from plant to plant.” My new plant smells wonderful, so maybe it’s not common oregano, which, according to Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs is a “fetching, bushy little plant with all the flavor of lawn grass.”
For the most part, oregano is easy to grow. However, in poorly drained soil, it is susceptible to root and stem rot. Aphids and spider mites could be an issue. As a landscape feature, oregano is a colorful addition to a flower border. It is also nice trailing over a rock wall.
Instead of anymore writing, I’m going out to plant my oregano!
— JoAnne Skelly is an Associate Professor & Extension Educator Emerita at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at skellyj@unce.unr.edu.
