Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-623
Mexican Oregano
Lippia origanoides
Mexican Oregano gives Mexican and Central American cooking its stronger, less-sweet oregano flavor - and despite the name it is not the same plant as European oregano, a different genus entirely. It thrives on rocky, calcium-rich limestone ground that most herbs reject, needs almost no water once established, and flowers for most of the frost-free season, feeding butterflies and bees for months at a stretch. Its real limit is cold - leaves and stems die back around 28 F (-2 C) - so where winters drop below that it has to be container-grown and brought under cover, or treated as a plant to replace each year.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 9–11
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 6.1–7.8
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 4–8 ft
- Mature spread
- 6.6 ft
- Plant spacing
- 3–4 ft
- Root type
- Not yet recorded
- Spread pattern
- Seed
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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