Origanum majorana Seeds | Marjoram
LATIN NAME: Origanum majorana
COMMON NAME: Marjoram, Sweet Marjoram, Knotted Marjoram
Plant Profile
Sweet marjoram is a small woody-based perennial of the mint family, grown almost everywhere as an annual. Plants reach 30-60 cm, with square stems, small rounded grey-green leaves and tight knot-like clusters of white or pale pink flowers at the stem tips, which is where the old name knotted marjoram comes from.
It is native to the eastern Mediterranean, from Cyprus through southern Turkey, and it wants the conditions that implies: sun, sharp drainage and a warm summer. In mild gardens it survives several years as a shrubby little bush; in cold ones the first hard frost ends it, and seed is the practical way to keep it.
Gardeners confuse it with oregano and the confusion is understandable, since the two are close relatives. Marjoram flowers earlier, tastes sweeter and rounder, and lacks the peppery bite of Greek oregano. In the kitchen the difference is real: marjoram goes in at the end of cooking, oregano goes in at the start.
Science & Biotechnology
The essential oil is dominated by terpinen-4-ol, with gamma-terpinene, sabinene and terpinene derivatives making up most of the rest. That profile is what separates it from oregano, whose oil is built around carvacrol and thymol and carries the phenol sharpness on the tongue. Marjoram oil has been studied for antibacterial and antioxidant activity in vitro, and the dried leaf retains a good deal of it if dried fast in shade.
Like most Mediterranean mints, the plant concentrates its oils in glandular hairs on the leaf surface, and these are damaged by rough handling. That is why marjoram bought as rubbed leaf loses its perfume faster than marjoram kept on the stem, and why the best kitchen practice is to strip leaves at the last moment.
Uses & Benefits
Marjoram is one of the four herbs in a classic herbes de Provence blend, and it is the one that rounds off the others. It suits sausages, stuffings, egg dishes, tomato sauces, roast vegetables and mushrooms, and it should go in near the end because heat drives off the volatiles that make it worth using. A few sprigs in a jar of olive oil will scent it within a week.
Beyond the kitchen it makes a neat edging plant, tolerates being clipped, and draws small bees by the hundred when in flower. An infusion of the dried leaf is a traditional digestive after a heavy meal. Commercially the fresh-cut bunch is the highest-value form, since dried marjoram is cheap and the fresh herb is not.
Growing from Seed
The seed is very fine and needs light, so sow it on the surface of a fine, moist compost and water from below rather than overhead. At 18-20°C germination takes ten days to a fortnight. Thin the seedlings early; crowded marjoram stretches and damps off.
Set plants out 25 cm apart once the soil is warm, in full sun and on ground that never sits wet. Pinch the growing tips twice before flowering to build a bushy plant, and pick leaves from the top rather than stripping the stem. If you want seed for next year, leave one plant to flower and dry the heads upside down in a paper bag. Plants can be lifted in autumn and kept on a windowsill through winter.
Our Take
A small, generous herb that asks for sun and drainage and gives back a whole summer of leaves. Keep it near the kitchen door, pinch it twice before flowering, and it will outlast the jar of dried oregano in the cupboard.
Related Reading
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