Hardiness of ‘Purple Carpet’ Lemon Thyme in North Bay
Answered by: Conrad Richter
Question from: Robert Saltstone
Posted on: April 29, 2006

Halifax Seed Co. suggested I contact you re Purple Carpet Lemon Thyme which is supposed to be good to zone 2. I live in North Bay (ON - zone 3 to 4) and am looking for a thyme to fill in between flagstones on a low-traffic walkway. Would this do the trick?

‘Purple Carpet’ lemon thyme is a very hardy low, mat-forming thyme. Although generally Richters has conservatively put the hardiness of most creeping thymes at zone 5, we are receiving reports that creeping thymes are able to survive in colder zones. ‘Purple Carpet’ thyme is one of the creeping varieties that has been documented to survive as low as zone 2, but we suspect others are similarly hardy.

It is worth mentioning though that hardiness zones are generally not well established for non-woody plants such as thymes and other herbs. In fact it is quite possible that the zone 2 rating for ‘Purple Carpet’ lemon thyme came from an area where there is a good snow cover; in another zone 2 area getting less snow ‘Purple Carpet’ thyme may not survive at all. More data is necessary to really know for sure that the zone 2 rating really applies to all zone 2 areas in Canada regardless of important factors such as snow cover, drainage, and precipitation. To answer your question then, ‘Purple Carpet’ lemon thyme would make an excellent choice for your walkway but for now we really hesitate to say whether it will survive winter in North Bay reliably year after year.

If so, do you have the plugs in stock yet?

Yes, we do.

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