Italian or Mexican oregano (Also false oregano)
Lippia micromera, Verbenaceae
Description
This is a woody shrub with small, slightly fuzzy, egg-shaped leaves about 1/4 inch long. It often has small clusters of white flowers along the branches and at the branch tips. Long branches reach above the canopy and eventually droop unless they are pruned.
Cultivation
Plant this oregano in full sun in well-drained soil. The fertility of the soil does not need to be very high, and you’ll get a better, stronger flavor if the soil is a little “poor.” Let the soil dry out between waterings.
Prune regularly to maintain a desired size and shape. The Mexican oregano takes well to both formal and informal training, though informal is easier to maintain since it often puts out long, reaching branches.
Propagation
Mexican oregano makes an attractive
bush in a vegetable garden.
Mexican oregano grows well from both seeds and cuttings. With cuttings you can harvest a crop faster, but since it is a fast growing plant, you won’t have to wait too long to get a crop from seed. Collect seed fresh. It is too hard to separate the seeds from the flowers so just plant the dried flowers in potting mix and in two to four weeks the seedlings should emerge. Transplant to individual pots at the first true leaf stage and place in the garden when the seedling is about 4 to 6 inches tall.
Cuttings should be made from semi-hardwood. Use a dilute rooting hormone and place them in clean sand or perlite and keep moist. Roots may take up to two months to form but if the leaves are not allowed to dry out completely, then the roots will eventually form.
Probably the easiest way to propagate this oregano is to let one of the branches drop to the ground and bury a part of the stem with soil. In about two months roots will form along the buried part of the stem and you can detach it from the mother plant. Because its roots have formed in garden soil, the new plant doesn’t need much coddling and can be transplanted to its new location immediately.
Uses
Use Mexican oregano as you would any other oregano for cooking. Less is needed because of its stronger flavor. You can harvest leaves as you need them either by stripping the leaves from the plant or cutting branches and stripping the leaves later. The latter method makes for a prettier plant in the garden. Dry the leaves or store them in the freezer.
In the garden this plant makes an interesting and fragrant border planting. It can be used as a short windbreak. It probably does best as a specimen plant with lowgrowing herbs around it.
This is a woody shrub with small, slightly fuzzy, egg-shaped leaves about 1/4 inch long. It often has small clusters of white flowers along the branches and at the branch tips. Long branches reach above the canopy and eventually droop unless they are pruned.
Cultivation
Plant this oregano in full sun in well-drained soil. The fertility of the soil does not need to be very high, and you’ll get a better, stronger flavor if the soil is a little “poor.” Let the soil dry out between waterings.
Prune regularly to maintain a desired size and shape. The Mexican oregano takes well to both formal and informal training, though informal is easier to maintain since it often puts out long, reaching branches.
Propagation
Mexican oregano makes an attractive
bush in a vegetable garden.
Mexican oregano grows well from both seeds and cuttings. With cuttings you can harvest a crop faster, but since it is a fast growing plant, you won’t have to wait too long to get a crop from seed. Collect seed fresh. It is too hard to separate the seeds from the flowers so just plant the dried flowers in potting mix and in two to four weeks the seedlings should emerge. Transplant to individual pots at the first true leaf stage and place in the garden when the seedling is about 4 to 6 inches tall.
Cuttings should be made from semi-hardwood. Use a dilute rooting hormone and place them in clean sand or perlite and keep moist. Roots may take up to two months to form but if the leaves are not allowed to dry out completely, then the roots will eventually form.
Probably the easiest way to propagate this oregano is to let one of the branches drop to the ground and bury a part of the stem with soil. In about two months roots will form along the buried part of the stem and you can detach it from the mother plant. Because its roots have formed in garden soil, the new plant doesn’t need much coddling and can be transplanted to its new location immediately.
Uses
Use Mexican oregano as you would any other oregano for cooking. Less is needed because of its stronger flavor. You can harvest leaves as you need them either by stripping the leaves from the plant or cutting branches and stripping the leaves later. The latter method makes for a prettier plant in the garden. Dry the leaves or store them in the freezer.
In the garden this plant makes an interesting and fragrant border planting. It can be used as a short windbreak. It probably does best as a specimen plant with lowgrowing herbs around it.