Not all oregano is equal. The common wild sort looks pretty and tastes of very little; this Greek strain is the authentic culinary one, with the intense peppery punch that makes a pizza sauce or a Greek salad taste as it should.
It thrives on neglect, and genuinely tastes better for it. Poor soil and full sun concentrate the oils; water and feed it well and you get lush growth with no flavour. The hotter and drier the summer, the better the crop.
It forms a low spreading mound topped with tiny white flowers that are an absolute magnet for bees — when in flower the mounds are often covered in them. Flavour peaks just before those flowers open, which is the moment to cut for drying.
