I have seen pictures of this and would love to try my hand. Would anyone happen to have some to spare? Not sure if it would come from seed or plants so I posted in both.
Wanted: Kents Beauty
Dear all-
The plant is origanum "kent beauty'.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/58220/index.html
I think PF may have the hardiness wrong for this one, though. DeBaggio (in VA, zone 7a I think) describes it as a "tender perennial," and I'm pretty sure it is propagated from cuttings rather than from seed.
Sorry I don't have it, and DeBaggio's doesn't ship... but I'm sure somebody will have it to share. I think there was a thread about it this summer in the Herbs forum, so you might try Dmailing whomever had the plant and politely inquiring whether cuttings would be possible.
Critterologist, if you'll scroll down on the plant files page, you'll see someone reports it growing in Lexington VA, which would be zone 6. I've seen this plant in several catalogs and they all describe it as cold hardy to around zone 5. So I don't know why DiBaggios is listing it as a tender perennial.
I think "growing it" in zone 6 doesn't necessarily correspond to it being winter hardy there, since you can do zone reports for annuals too. But if you're ordering it from a place that says it's hardy to zone 5, then it should be.... maybe DeBaggio's just doesn't have good luck overwintering theirs, or maybe they're just propagating a more tender strain of it...
Or maybe they just had the wrong information. Kent Beauty is the cultivar so I don't imagine there would be strains that were far more tender than others, and I also see that one of the people who commented in the plant files said theirs survived -20C, which is -4F.
I see that Mulberry Creek also calls it a tender perennial but reports it was hardy down to -18F. Perhaps these guys have some other definition of tender perennial than a perennial that won't survive cold temperatures. LOL
Oregano, Kent Beauty Botanical Name: Origanum rotundifolia x scabrum
Life Cycle: Tender Perennial
Description/Size:
Sold out for 2006
Jar Gem
Survived the winter of 2002 with flying colors (-18 F) and flowered all summer long. Blue-green, almost heart-shaped leaves give way to red & cream, hop-like flower heads, all summer and fall. Absolutely perfect as a trailing feature in a mixed herb pot.
Cold Tolerance: Zone 10a 10b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b
http://mulberrycreek.com/Detailed/281.html
This message was edited Sep 7, 2006 5:58 PM
If you like the origanum "Kent Beauty", here is another you might like as well. I ran across Clary Sage "Mojito" in the new selectseeds catalogue. The bracts are shaped and marked verymuch like the origanum, but without the light purplish tint. This one also seems more upright than the origanum.
http://www.selectseeds.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/0276.6.6016014558242742305