big city name might help a bit more than just zone ...

I have thyme and oregano growing in raised beds side by side. I don't due anything special to either bed. We did use potting soil when we originally built the bed and we fertilize occasionally. The oregano is about five years old and the thyme is around two years old. We would have milder weather and much less rain than zone 7.

Thyme doesn’t go dormant in summer in all climates. In z7 I would expect it to keep growing.

That wasn't my experience in Zone 6B/7A Mid-Atlantic -- our summer temps were consistently in the upper 90s/low 100s but rainy. I couldn't grow sage, lavender or thyme because we were getting loads of rain when they just wanted to sleep and be left alone :) But there could have been other factors involved... On the other hand, rosemary and oregano did great in the same bed.

I’m sure you’re right. I have no experience of those areas. But thyme doesn't go dormant in summer here or in the Mediterranean area. I’d never heard of it doing so until I read your information. I’d say the same about sage and lavender and we get plenty of rain all year round. I just wanted the OP to know summer dormancy isn’t a given.

Just to clarify -- by "dormant" I DON'T mean winter dormancy. Just a resting period during the hottest part of the year (90F and above) when no new growth appears and plants have lower water needs.

I've got regular oregano and thyme very happy in my herb garden. The thyme actually provides competition for the tarragon! I have no idea why they are that darn happy there- the other marjorams, savories, and other kinds of oreganos and thymes just haven't done well there and got overtaken by the regular thyme and oregano.

And not a dormancy in the summer- but I have noticed my thyme does seem to go into a sort of resting time of not much new growth and just letting leaves get fat before they start their flower spikes if I let it go without trimming long enough.

And I think once it's happy, thyme might be a bit more evergreen than oregano, at least it is for me. I've been able to dig down under snow and mulch to pull up some good thyme greens when the oregano is all just nope, dead back for weeks yet.

Not all oreganos are hardy. Greek oregano is hardy. Italian oregano is not, and should be considered a tender perennial.

Ken, I’m in Maryland Just a short commute north of DC.

Greek and Italian oregano are essentially the same plant - Origanum vulgare var. hirta. Also commonly known as 'true' or Mediterranean oregano. Flavors will vary by region and Greek, Italian and even Turkish oregano each have a distinct flavor. But all the same plant and with equal hardiness.

Both Mexican and Cuban oregano are completely different plants unrelated to Origanum and neither are fully winter hardy except in frost free zones (z 10 and above) and are typically grown as annuals.

Yanggers, I used to garden in Wheaton, MD for about 10 years!

I think heavy downpours were the most frustrating part of that experience (and the diseases that festered in that insane humidity). I had to build a special elevated "rock garden" for my herbs to improve drainage.

They did better after that and I thought I had it all figured out, until the year we got 72 inches of rain (*shudder*). All my herbs rotted then (and lots of other plants and veg).

So, some years are going to be better than others, and herbs may be short-lived. But I still think the Mid-Atlantic is an amazing place to garden. You can't beat that spring!

I am in a Mid Atlantic, HUMID/Wet Zone 7 climate. For me Sage, Thyme, lavender and Bay are evergreen, oregano mostly dies back (I think, will check tomorrow), Cuban oregano overwinters in the greenhouse. My biggest issue in recent years has been with my rosemary, I used to have beautiful, green/blue rosemary shrubs, and in the last two years their leaves have been discolored with yellowish flecks and I've noticed flying bugs about them. Recent summers though have been quite hot and humid over protracted weeks.

There must be ways to get around the excess rain problem. Plant under an overhang? On top of a mound? On a slope?

Kitasei, sometimes you just can't isolate plants from the environment. As I mentioned, I built a rock garden which worked for a while. But the humidity in Maryland can be so high, it feels like you breath in hot water vapor. Also, the year we got 70 inches of rain, the soil was so saturated the whole year that it seeped into homes. All my root veggies rotted and dissolved in their (raised!) beds. Some years Mediterranean-type herbs simply have a hard time surviving and that's something people learn to live with.

And then once in a while a winter comes along that wipes them out. I remember one horrible snowless month when a polar vortex killed all rosemary plants in the area -- it was even reported in the papers and there was a big rosemary shortage in the nurseries that year :)

The variety of Rosemary known as 'Arp' is a cold hardier (into Zone 6), but it also has the issues with prolonged summer humidity and excessive rainfall in the East. Mine thrived in the summers of drought but now I feel like ripping them out.

I’m trying the hardier Rosemary Madeline Hill.

Since we’re talking about thyme, would growing it from seed require different media than ordinary peat-based potting mix? If not, would seedlings need to be transplanted to one?

I've always started herbs in a regular peaty potting mix. I find it easier to keep moist in the beginning, especially for seeds that need to be left uncovered. You can just spray the surface with water. And the seeds don't get buried and lost between large chunks of bark, etc.

It looks a bit soggy because I just watered :)