Description:

An ornamental variety that produces masses of flowers over a long summer to fall blooming period; leaves may be used in cooking; excellent full season color for a rock garden or border front

Edible Qualities

Zorba Red Oregano is a perennial herb that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. The fragrant oval forest green leaves are usually harvested from late spring to mid summer. The leaves have a pungent taste and a distinctive fragrance.

The leaves are most often used in the following ways:

• Cooking
• Seasoning

Features & Attributes

Zorba Red Oregano features showy clusters of white trumpet-shaped flowers at the ends of the stems from early summer to mid fall, which emerge from distinctive dark red flower buds. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its small fragrant oval leaves are forest green in color. The foliage often turns purple in fall.

This is an herbaceous perennial herb with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage. This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Zorba Red Oregano is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Zorba Red Oregano will grow to be about 10 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 28 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 24 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated herb garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Zorba Red Oregano is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.