Origanum

This hybrid Oregano works what it got to da max. This is made to order for heat waves, drought conditions, and hungry bees. Lean soil with great drainage? Check. Dry summers? Check. Ravening hoards of deer and rabbit? Check. Loads of amethyst-pink flowers from light green bracts in summer.

Fabulous hybrid ornamental Oregano (O. rotundifolium x O. scabrum) which is both heat and drought tolerant and with its small compact size is a perfect choice for the sunny rock garden or top edge of rockery wall. This really does need sharp drainage to perform its best. In the Midwest, it is used as an annual in window boxes. Light pink flowers all summer long and perennial in zone 7 and above.

Got lots of sun and sandy or well-drained soil with average to low fertility in a dryish garden beset by rabbits and deer but still want lots of flowers for the bees and other pollinators? Look no further as this will nicely fill the bill. Mature plant has hundreds of pink papery bracted flowers in midsummer on drooping stems. Best displayed in a raised bed.

Glowing leaves of gold are the hallmark of this Oregano and provide an over the top and shockingly restrained backing for the warm pink flowers that rise on 20" stems in summer. This likes a little shade and does best with a little water though will take some dry. Makes 2' mounds.