Red Creeping Thyme
Perennial
- Vibrant flowers bloom prolifically in summer!
- Foliage and flowers are aromatic.
- Easy to grow flowering ground cover, thriving with little care.
- Deer-resistant, but attracts pollinators like butterflies.
- Zones 3-8, sun, 4" tall x 12" wide at maturity.
ZONE
EXPOSURE
HEIGHT
Description
Details
Common name: Red creeping thyme
Zone: 3 - 8
Sun exposure: Sun (> 6 hours sun)
Height x width: 2-4" X 12"
Flower color: Dark pink
Foliage color: Green
Bloom season: Summer
Features: Space savers, rabbit & deer resistant, heat tolerant, drought tolerant, cold tolerant
Uses: Alpine, container gardening, cottage gardening, edging, ground cover, naturalizing, rock garden, small spaces, underplanting
How to Grow
Light: Sun (> 6 hours sun) is needed for best foliage and bloom.
Water: Keep soil moist but not wet as plants establish. Once established, it tolerates dry conditions.
Spacing: 12-18"
Fertilizing: If desired, feed plants lightly in spring with fish fertilizer or any liquid plant food.
Winterizing: Cover the plants with lightweight mulch to protect the plants over the winter. Prune away winter-killed stems in spring.
Maintenance & pruning: Shear back spent flowers. In the South, plants may "mug off" in the summer heat and humidity. Cut the plant back, and you'll see new growth when the weather cools. Can be divided during the spring months.
Plant spacing is based on the ultimate width of the plants. This figure is normally given as a range; for example, 3-5’. If you live in a cold climate and/or want plants to fill in more quickly, plan to space at the shorter end of the range. If you live in a warm climate, are on a limited budget, or are willing to wait longer for plants to touch, use the higher end of the range. Using the larger number is recommended when calculating distance from a building or structure. There’s really no such thing as "maximum spacing": if you don’t want your plants to touch, you can space them as far apart as you’d like. All plant spacing is calculated on center, or in other words, the centers of the plants are spaced one half of their eventual width apart:
Unless you are planting in a straight line, as you might for hedges or edging, space your plants in a staggered or zig-zag pattern for a more interesting and naturalistic look:
Not sure just how many plants will fit in your garden? Our calculator gives you the exact amount of plants required for your space. Simply update the values and the calculator will re-calculate accordingly. Spacing information can be found in the 'How to Grow' tab on each plant's page.
95% of the plants were brown and dead. It seems from shipping to delivery it was a long span.
Hello! We’re sorry that you received plants that are not up to our standards. We try our best to provide excellent plants, but some factors, like shipping and handling, are outside our control. That’s why we have a 60-day guarantee on all of our orders. Please email your order number and pictures of your plants to [email protected] to start the claims process. We look forward to helping! https://bit.ly/ggp-guarantee
This is the second time I’ve bought Red Creeping Thyme plugs from Great Garden Plants. Both times were perfect. Plugs arrived healthy and green. They were planted in July and August and even in the heat they are already starting to establish and look great. Just making sure to keep them watered. If they had other varieties I’d buy more! Highland Cream or Doone Valley would be nice :)
This is my second order of flowering thyme and none of these plants made it. They all arrived with green leaves, but after unpacking and letting them climatize, they all turned brown and died. Thank goodness for the 60 day guarantee. Unfortunately these plants just don’t ship well.
Hello! We’re sorry that you received plants that are not up to our standards. We try our best to provide excellent plants, but some factors, like shipping and handling, are outside our control. That’s why we have a 60-day guarantee on all of our orders. We would be happy to refund or replace your plants. Please email your order number and pictures of your plants to [email protected] to start the claims process. We look forward to helping! https://bit.ly/ggp-guarantee
Shipped on 6/16/26 arrived today 6/25/26 I enquired about the package on 6/24/26 they have been sitting in Lansings FedEx facility since 6/18/26 apparently I requested a hold for further delivery one at 8:30 am didn’t have phone on me at work and another at 3:23 am in bed sleeping what a joke I have ordered a lot of plants from here but this will be my last time I really don’t think they will lasts day let alone planted in the ground some are dry with a little green some are wet and brown
Hello! We’re sorry that you received plants that are not up to our standards. We try our best to provide excellent plants, but some factors, like shipping and handling, are outside our control. That’s why we have a 60-day guarantee on all of our orders. Please email your order number and pictures of your plants to [email protected] to start the claims process. We look forward to helping! https://bit.ly/ggp-guarantee
We ordered over 200 of the landscape plugs and have planted them all. They came packed in a large flat with 32 plugs in each flat. They were thriving and very healthy. Had to water them in the flats for several days until we could get them planted and, so far, have only lost 6-8 plants! Would have ordered more, but they ran out of stock. Would highly recommend Great Garden Plants for anyone needing mail-order plants.
Terrible - not in the pot when it arrived, could barely find it through all the soil … sad I already put another order in which I may have to cancel. Disappointed in the shipping
Hello! We’re sorry that you received plants that are not up to our standards. We try our best to provide excellent plants, but some factors, like shipping and handling, are outside our control. That’s why we have a 60-day guarantee on all of our orders. Please email your order number and pictures of your plants to [email protected] to start the claims process. We look forward to helping! https://bit.ly/ggp-guarantee
Package was on time and in great condition. Plants were alittle compressed from stacking but fluffed right up after a day or two and some water. Waited a week to plant hopefully they fill in quickly.
I paid for expedited shipping to avoid long travel stress. Half of a flat arrived dead.
Hello! It is common for plants to experience slight stress from shipping, as they have not experienced their ideal growing conditions at this time. We recommend placing plants in a cool, shaded spot out of direct sunlight for 24-48 hours after unpacking them. This allows them a recovery and acclimation period before planting. If you must hold them longer, place them out of direct sunlight, wind, heat, and cold, and plant as soon as possible. Please email your order number and pictures of your plants to [email protected] to start the claims process, and we can make sure your plants are on the right track! https://bit.ly/ggp-guarantee
Just received them today. They arrived very quickly still going to wait 24 hours before planting so excited to see them grow will be reordering more in the spring time. As well as looking very healthy.
Will try again in the spring when the delivery trucks aren’t so hot.
Hello! It is common for plants to experience slight stress from shipping, as they have not experienced their ideal growing conditions at this time. We recommend placing plants in a cool, shaded spot out of direct sunlight for 24-48 hours after unpacking them. This allows them a recovery and acclimation period before planting. If you must hold them longer, place them out of direct sunlight, wind, heat, and cold, and plant as soon as possible. Please email your order number and pictures of your plants to [email protected] to start the claims process, and we can make sure your plants are on the right track! https://bit.ly/ggp-guarantee
I ordered two flats of the landscape plugs this spring. Plant material arrived in perfect condition and a few bloomed. Still have some ground to fill - will be ordering more.
Ordered 2 landscape plug packs that came in great condition and planted early April. They are doing great 4 weeks later. They don't like too much water. Make sure you're not planting where there's standing water after a rain. The flower color on mine are not red, it is more pink/ purple. Pictures show first planted vs now.
The red thyme plugs were the way to go. They were extremely well packaged, looking for a low ground cover for my front plants to eliminate mulch. Looking forward to watching them grow highly recommend.
32 landscape plugs arrived smartly packaged and looking lush. I’m planting them in a bed that got hit hard by the rabbits. Hoping the fragrance will keep my plumbago, cone flowers and yarrow from being further nibbled.
I’ve bought many plants from for ggp, many are a success.
I’ve received Red creeping tyme unfortunately one shipment didn’t make it alive. But easily resolved.
Second shipment of 15 plants
Are happy and doing very well.
It was a process..regularly pruned out the dead areas, also making sure not to overwater was the hardest part.
It’s been 1 month in the ground.
Gorgeous!
Location: whidbey island, Washington
These landscape plugs are some of the most lush creeping thyme I've ever seen. They appear to be extremely healthy. Can't wait to get them planted.
Followed all the directions. Even received replacements. They all died.
Hello! Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry to hear that you've had trouble with Red Creeping Thyme. A very common problem this time of year is underwatering, especially as the summer heat kicks in. We'd be happy to assist you further. Please send these photos to [email protected]. Happy Gardening!
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