Tricolored Marjoram; aka,
Variegated Wild Greek Oregano
"And bury me in Saint Mary's church,
All for my love so true,
And make me a garland of marjoram,
And of lemon-thyme, & rue."
-traditional ballad
Oregano has been used as a folk remedy for sundry ailments, including diabetes, arthritis, hemophelia, or to control spasms. Its efficacy in most of these cases is suspect or at best debatable. But it does have a high measure of antioxidant chemical components, has a definitely positive effect on digestion & respiratory function, & is as good as anything else for the common cold & soar throat, having also a sedative effect taken in large enough quantity.
Its toxic potential is nearly zero, except to the rare individual allergic to oregano, or if taken in large concentrated amounts which can induce abortions. Essential oils from oregeno are used for topical pain relief including toothache. Its high thymol content makes these oils one of the best natural anteseptics.Variegated Dwarf Greek oregano, or TriColor Marjoram (Origanum vulgare 'Variegata'), grows to about a five inch height, slowly spreading into a groundcover. It likes full sun to partial shade & is cold hardy to minus thirty. It's not as frost-tender as many other oreganos, & is nearly evergreen though it does get unsightly toward the end of our mild Zone 8 winters. It will likely die to the ground in colder areas, but leap back to life in spring. A bit hardier is the non-variegated regular O. vulgar 'Humile' dwarf marjoram.
TriColor Marjoram has a low water requirement. It prefers acid-neutral to slightly alkaline soil, but adapts to our region's richer acidic soils. Indeed, it can adapt to conditions that are dry or moist, with rich or poor soil, & even does well in coastal gardens that experience salt mist, or high winds.
White to pale pink, heremaphraditic flowers appear July through September. They're pollinated by bees, moths, & butterflies. It self-seeds August through October. Even when not in flower, the TriColor variety is gorgeous just for its leaves of gold, green & cream.
Marjoram is believed by many to repel ants & is sometimes grown at the fringe of a vegetable garden to discourage unwanted insects. The species is a basic herb in Mediterranean cookery, & can also be used in herb tea. Of the several oreganos we grow this one isn't my favorite for flavor, & the leaves are so tiny it's not easy to keep the leaf to stem ratio low on the stem side. The variety I am instead constantly trimming for kitchen use is the mild & flavorful O. vulgare 'Dr. Ietswaart' Golden Oregano.