Question
Oh so many varities of creeping thyme to choose from. I live in southern NJ in, I believe, Zone 6 and want to know what you would suggest for a low height ground cover for a flagstone path in nearly full sun. I would like low height, pinkish over purple flower if possible with a strong scent which gets stronger when stepped on. Also if you wold know of a seed co that sells this would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Answer
CREEPING THYME ('Thymus serphyllum' to botanists) can take a moderate amount of foot traffic and makes a decent flagstone filler.  The High Country Gardens website posts instructions on 'How to plant a thyme lawn':

www.highcountrygardens.com/article198.html

Thyme is hardy in zones 7 through 9 -- hopefully where you live!  Double check the USDA map and confirm -- much of the Southern Garden State falls in Zone 7.

Garden writer Maureen Gilmer reflects on Thyme groundcovers on her website:

http://www.moplants.com/archives/strewing_herbs.php

Gilmer notes that in Victorian England, Thyme groundcovers served as a 'unique means of scenting clothing.'

'Women抯 long, voluminous skirts trailed behind them on the floor. In castle gardens, it was not uncommon to find a thyme lawn composed of a ground-hugging mat of aromatic Thymus serphyllum. When walked upon, plants were crushed, and then skirts trailed over them to soak up any oils exuded from the foliage.'

V. Sackville-West planted Thyme not only on the Lawn, but on concrete benches as well in the Gardens at Sissinghurst.
Notes Gilmer, 'The planted seat was also designed to scent clothing. It was created of carved stone and appeared much like a heavy church pew. The seat was hollowed out into a cavity about 6 inches deep and into this was packed earth planted with either chamomile or thyme. When a person sat down and crushed the plants, resulting oils soaked into breeches or skirts.'  Some very nice photos of the Sissinghurst Thyme Lawn and other views are posted on the internet by a tourist who was there, Dave Parker:

http://www.invectis.co.uk/sissing/ssherb2.htm

It is not hard to find Thyme seeds.  You can buy them in Lawn-quantity as a Lawn alternative from Seedland.com, which sells them as a Lawn alternative:

http://www.seedland.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?

Finally, the Montgomery County, MD Coop Extension calls Thyme 'the most versatile of fragrant herbs for walksways':

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/dep/greenman/fragrant_pathway.pdf

'Thyme is ideal for hot, sunny locations, although it can tolerate some degree of shade,' they note.  Besides T. serphyllum, they list Creeping Golden/Lime/Red/White/Silver Thymes, Caraway Thyme, Pink Ripple and Lemon Frost Thymes, and Mountain Thyme.

Make sure you have plenty of drainage and the soil is not compacted.  In all, it sounds beautiful.