Satureja spicigera

The ground cover savory is a semi-evergreen perennial shrub, with fine foliage, abundant late white flowers, when little else blooms, and an aroma of pepper and salt.

It requires very little maintenance and attracts pollinating insects useful for the garden. Drought tolerant, it grows even in very poor soils. Enhanced in a pot where it is hanging, suitable for mixed borders, where, being evergreen, it helps to give structure.

Classification.
Common name: Ground savory, Winter savory, creeping savory.
Genus and species: Satureja spicigera
Cultivars: -
Family: Lamiaceae.

Characteristics
Description of flowers: Very small flowers about 5 mm long.
Flower color: White.
Flowering period: Late summer to late autumn.
Leaves: Evergreen, but in mild climates, linear, wider at the tips than at the base.
Fragrance: The leaves smell of pepper.
Dimensions: Width up to 1 m approximately. Height 5-10 cm.

Cultivation
Exposure: Full sun.
Soil: Well drained.
Watering: Poor, once established.
Frost resistance: USDA 7.

Care
Pruning: To keep it thicker and more branched, it can be pruned, above a bud, not too far back in the old wood, at the beginning of spring.
Propagation: From semi-woody cutting in July-August. From green cutting in April-May, with heel. From seed in early spring.

Notes of interest
Use in the kitchen: The flavor of the leaves is peppery and pungent, perfect with legumes, but also used as a garnish for salads.
Herbal properties: The whole plant, and especially the flowering shoots, are antiseptic, aromatic, digestive, expectorant; excellent for colic and flatulence problems. A sprig of the plant, rubbed on insect bites, brings immediate relief.