Thyme Silver Queen: useful properties, planting and care with photo

The leaves and flowers of perennial Silver Queen thyme look great on an alpine hill, decorate flower beds, and are used in cooking and folk medicine.

For a long time, thyme, or thyme, was considered a divine herb that returned he alth to the sick, life to the dying. In the Middle Ages, women embroidered the plant on the shirts of their husbands, believing that it would reward them with strength and courage. In Russia, icons were decorated with grass when they celebrated the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, used to treat all diseases. In ancient Greece, thyme began to be added to food.

Silver Queen specifics

Lemon-smelling thyme was discovered much later. This low semi-shrub with a slightly pubescent stem arose in the process of natural crossing of two types of thyme - flea and common. It is spreading, it is found growing up. Both leaves and inflorescences resembling an ear smell of lemon.

The most popular variety of this type of thyme is Silver Queen. The height of the stem does not exceed 20 cm, peduncles - 30. The shrub has a hummocky shape, has ascending shoots. Oval leaves with short petioles differ:

• light green;
• edges curled down;
• pieces of iron in the form of dots;
• white border;
• silver inserts.

The perennial grows up to 80 cm wide. Small lilac flowers at the ends of the branches gather in spike-shaped brushes, attract bees with their smell. The aroma contains notes of anise, lemon and cumin. Buds on thyme appear in June. In August, fruits similar to boxes ripen. They contain nuts with seeds.

Useful properties

The top of lemon thyme is used in cooking. The spice improves the taste of fish and meat, is used in the production of alcoholic beverages, in the canning industry. In gardens, Silver Queen fills rock gardens with a flowering carpet, decorates borders, paths, stone slopes, spreading a pleasant smell around. The plant is rich:

• organic acids;
• essential oils;
• flavonoids;
• resin;
• tannins.

Tincture of Silver Queen thyme is used for pneumonia, bronchitis. Compresses and baths from the stems and leaves of the plant reduce the pain of arthritis, gout, bruises.

Medicines from fragrant subshrubs are used in the treatment of:

• women's diseases;
• a bad cold;
• pathologies of the digestive tract.

Thyme oil heals wounds, decoction eliminates dandruff, copes with acne. The components present in Silver Queen have a negative effect on bacteria and calm the nerves.

Date of planting

In the open ground, hybrid varieties of thyme are sown in the spring, you can do this in the fall.The culture develops slowly, in order to accelerate its growth, seedlings are planted in March, which are then moved to a flower bed or garden. During the summer months, thyme is propagated by dividing the bush or using harvested cuttings. Sprouts appear when the air temperature leaves the 20-degree mark.

Seed preparation

Growing a fragrant green carpet in the garden is within the power of every owner of the site, however, Silver Queen seedlings sprout for a long time and unfriendly because of the high content of essential oils. Material for planting thyme should be collected in early autumn, when the flowering of the shrub stops. So that it does not rot, but is well stored, it is dried. Immediately before sowing, the seeds must be kept in warm water for up to 12 hours.

Soil preparation

Thyme Silver Queen loves the sun. It also grows in the shade, but then the stems stretch out, the thyme does not release flower stalks.It is advisable to choose a plot for a semi-shrub in places that do not penetrate the wind. Thyme takes root in rocky soil, but loves light fertile soil, dies when water stagnates.

A bed for lemon-smelling thyme should be dug up with a bayonet or two shovels, remove the remnants of the previous crop and weeds. It is better to do this in the fall, repeat and loosen in the spring. The soil with high acidity is lime. The earth is fed with organic matter and minerals.

Landing

Thyme seeds are sown in the garden in early spring to a depth of up to a centimeter, leaving about 20 cm between rows. Sprinkle the holes with earth on top, cover with a film until the sprouts emerge.

To speed up the emergence of a green carpet, seedlings are first prepared. To do this, peat and sand are placed in a container. The soil is watered and the seeds are buried in it by 5 cm. The box is placed in a warm place, covered with polyethylene.When shoots appear, the container is transferred to the windowsill. Bushes are watered and thinned out. In May, thyme seedlings are moved to open ground along with the ground. So that the water does not stagnate, sand is poured into the bottom of the pits.

Plant care

Silver Queen thyme will please with its aroma and mass flowering only when the basic conditions for growth and development are provided. In addition to choosing a site and preparing the soil, it is necessary to uproot weeds, loosen the ground so that air enters the roots.

Irrigation

Thyme normally tolerates drought, only when there is no rain for a long time and it is hot, you need to moisten the soil in the garden or in the garden. Water will not evaporate quickly when the soil is mulched with straw, sand. Nor should it be allowed to stagnate.

After watering, which is enough to carry out once a week, the earth is well loosened.

Fertilizers

Silver Queen thyme also grows on rocky slopes, but blooms luxuriantly in fertile areas. Digging up the earth in the fall, organic matter is added to it - compost, rotted manure. In the spring, until thyme shoots come out, the beds are sprinkled with ashes and fed with urea. Fertilize the crop during pruning, which is done when the thyme has faded. In regions where there is little snow in winter, hybrid varieties of thyme are covered with spruce branches.

Diseases and pests

The aromatic substances present in thyme are not liked by insects, most of them do not sit on a green carpet. Not afraid of smell:

• weevils;
• meadow moths;
• aphid.

To protect against these pests, thyme is sprayed with insecticides. With stagnant water, the roots rot, the thyme is affected by the fungus. It tolerates excess moisture much worse than drought.

Collection and storage

Silver Queen thyme is grown not only to decorate flower beds and alpine slides, but also as a seasoning and medicine. In order for the thyme not to lose its smell and bitter taste, it is necessary to follow the rules for its collection and storage. Leaves and stems are added to meat and fish. They must be harvested when the plant blooms. Thyme is dried without rinsing, spread evenly on cloth or paper in a well-ventilated area. Do not leave thyme in the oven, as the essential oils will evaporate immediately.

Proper collection and storage allow Silver Queen thyme to be used not only as a spice, but also as a medicine for heartburn, colds, wound healing, calming nerves, and reducing pain.

When harvested and stored in a glass jar in a timely manner, thyme does not lose its beneficial properties for two years.

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