Promising Plants Profiles

Origanum xmajoricum

Common Name: Italian oregano, hardy marjoram
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Origanum
Specific Epithet: xmajoricum

Life cycle: perennial
Zone: 6-9
Flower color: white to off-white
Bloom time: early summer to fall
Growth: 12-18 in.
Habit/Form: clumping, upright, mounding
Light requirements: full sun
Soil requirements: well-drained, loose soil, prefers slightly alkaline
Propagation: sterile hybrid, grow from cuttings or by division, may occasionally set seed
Uses: culinary, medicinal, ornamental
Other details: milder in flavor than Greek oregano

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Description: Hybrid resulting from a cross between sweet majoram (O. majorana) and wild majoram (O. vulgare) Small, light-green, fragrant leaves with spikes of tiny white to off-white flowers.

Cultivation: Grows in a warm, dry, well-drained soil. Plant in full sun, but it will tolerate a small amount of shade. Pinch back before flowering to encourage bushy growth habit.

"Origanum xmajoricum, is the "real" one. It is sold as Origanum xmajoricum 'Hilltop,' which is shortened from the name O. xmajoricum 'Hilltop Herb Farm,' which it was given after Rex Talbert brought it to Madalene Hill some 40 years ago. This fine oregano plant came from a California nursery in Redwood City. This sterile hybrid is probably a cross between sweet marjoram (O. majorana), for flavor, and wild oregano (O. vulgare), for hardiness. It has some of the characteristic sweetness of marjoram and retains much of the punch of Greek oregano, too. This is the best all-purpose oregano. It is upright with medium green leaves and is 18 to 24 inches tall. The plants form clumps and do not spread. The one typically found in nurseries today is the flavorless O. vulgare. Good cooks should be able to find the real thing and good gardeners will quickly find it; use your nose." - Gloria McClure, Promising Plants Presentation, 2008.

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