 This lovely little specimen is the Italian oregano. I nicked a sprig off a plant from a friend of ours because they didn't have this variety yet. Let's turn it into this lovely little bush for me and very happy with those results. As you can see it's a very thin leaf, darker green, it's a lovely taste and a little more. Here we have an example of the Greek oregano that we have growing in our aquaponic bed. This is very similar to the Italian oregano, having a very thin leaf and being a darker green in color. Most kitchens that cook with fresh oregano will generally use either the Italian or the Greek varieties for their wonderful and intense flavor. This golden oregano variety is the perfect example of just how much punishment an oregano plant can take. This poor plant has been left to dry out and die and it has come back. It has been flooded and died and come back. It has been cut down to the ground and come back. This survived winter in a poorly insulated drain house and come back. At this point we only keep the golden oregano because it's put up with so much but when you get right down to it my favorite of all the oregano that I grow is easily the Cuban. Here is the Cuban oregano, my favorite by far. Get a little closer here and you can see just how nice and poppy these leaves are. Break one up. As you can see the Cuban oregano isn't much thicker than your standard oregano and when you break it in half. I don't know if you can really see it on this camera. It's got a nice jelly like middle that helps to make it nice and poopy and that is just full of oil. My fingers are covered in it. I love it. In general oregano is fairly easy to grow and a great plant for the beginning gardener. If you're looking to add something new and zesty to your cooking there's another good reason you should consider growing some oregano. The flavors can be anything from sweet to spicy. Aside from just the flavor benefits of having oregano in your garden there are also medicinal reasons to consider having it. Oregano leaves and stems are strongly antiseptic and they also work well as an expectorant which means basically they kill germs and they help bring up the stuff stuck in your lungs when you're hacking and wheezing your face off stuck in bed. I do tend to use fresh oregano leaves when I'm making my homemade teas. For example some garlic and oregano boiled into a thick broth like tea can do wonders to that cold that won't go away. Don't get me wrong it doesn't taste great but it works well and isn't that really what matters.