Plant Review: Origanum laevigatum ‘Pilgrim’
Ornamental oregano first caught my eye in my first Logee’s catalog when, as an impressionable lad of 15, I spied Origanum ‘Kent Beauty.’ My interest in all plants Mediterranean had begun to percolate, and it was one of the catalysts. Years later, it wasn’t ‘Kent Beauty,’ but ‘Pilgrim’ I happened upon at a local nursery whilst shopping for an interesting groundcover. Its leaves were marketed as blue and fragrant, its flowers pink. Sold!
‘Pilgrim’ did well its first year; in its second year it truly came into its own. Those blue-green leaves were up with the first rays of spring, clean as a whistle and turning ever bluer by the time dark pink bracts appeared around July 4. With the bracts, Pilgrim’s a stunner. By end of July, it was in full bloom, and okay… The pink of full bloom is a bit livid for my taste, but I love the bracts-only stage well enough that my love for ‘Pilgrim’ is still a no-brainer. Midsummer alternative to ho-hum pink creeping phlox? I think so.
I suspect ‘Pilgrim’ is a good candidate for sheering after bloom to get a fresh flush of foliage and some rebloom, but my garden philosophy is to keep maintenance to a minimum, so I decided to see how it looked if I left it. I won’t lie to you… When the flowers browned, they were ugly, but I could live with them. That said, I tried sheering a patch this year in the sunniest spot it’s planted, because it had completely burned out. I’m not expecting a rebloom from this bit (the plant does that some, I’ve noticed), but a new flush of leaf would be nice.
Lowdown:
- COLOR, COLOR, COLOR: Pilgrim’s blue leaves and pink flowers are a complementary color enthusiast’s daydream.
- LIGHT: Oreganos would like sun, please.
- WATER: Established oreganos are drought tolerant plants, as are many from the Mediterranean.
- LOW MAINTENANCE: See aforementioned note about sheering. Cut down the dead stuff in late fall or early spring. That’s it!
- DESIGN TIP: I really enjoy the contrast of rounded, bluey oregano leaves with the deep green needles of the pine it lives in front of.
- FAMILY TREE: Oreganos are in the family Lamiaceae, the mint family, who pretty much have your spice rack covered: basil, rosemary, lavender, thyme, and, of course, mints of all kinds.
- Posted by AK on 2010 Sep 03 at 1209
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I love this plant…the foliage is great, even if it doesn’t flower! I think I may have “Hopley’s Purple”, which is beautiful, but really suffers from lack of good sun in my garden…The flowers are quite dark and the bracts stay colorful even after the blossoms have faded. How big does “Pilgrim” get?
Andrew, I grow two ornamental oreganos, Origanum ‘Amethyst Falls’ and Origanum libanoticum but neither looks quite so spectacular as ‘Pilgrim’. Both have drooping flowers that look like hops and are a favorite of the bees. The leaves on both were quite spotty this year so I did shear them after they bloomed and the new foliage looks must fresher. I ordered both mine through the mail, for some reason Origanum doesn’t seem to be a popular plant in the local nurseries.
@Debbie: I love the types that have flowers like hops! ‘Kent Beauty’ is one of those. I’d like to find a place for them too. We don’t get many oreganos in nurseries here either, though one of my wholesalers sells ‘Rosenkuppel,’ similar to ‘Pilgrim.’ You’re pretty close to Logee’s, right? I know they still sell a few.
@Scott: I love the foliage too — I almost think it’d be worth cutting off the flowers right when they go from bracts-only to blooming. ‘Pilgrim’ gets about a foot tall for me.