Thymus praecox 'Purple Beauty'

Selected cultivar from Thymus praecox, a subshrub of the Lamiaceae family. The type species is distributed in Western and Central Europe, from coastal lawns to mountain rockeries.

This cultivar forms a dense and regular creeping carpet, slightly elevated at the center, not exceeding 5 to 8 cm in height. The small oval, dark green and glossy leaves are borne on stems with very short internodes, giving the whole a particularly tight and uniform texture. The calyces and flowering stems take on purplish-brown hues at flowering time, enhancing the contrast with the bright green foliage.

The flowers are pink-lilac to fairly deep purple, noticeably more colorful than in many forms of the species, gathered in small dense and numerous heads that generously cover the carpet at anthesis. In cultivation, flowering generally occurs in May-June.

It requires full sun and impeccable drainage, in poor to moderately fertile soil. The distinctly colorful tone of its flowers and the neatness of its creeping habit make it an effective element for paving gaps, walls, and gravel gardens.