Normally, I’d have the mints, among the cold-hardiest of the annuals I grow, in the ground by now. This year I’ve barely been able to start hardening them, and the ground certainly is not diggable. Yes, that’s the remains of last October’s snow behind them. Yes, I know mints are perennials. Most aren’t here. The lone exception is what I call Alaskan mint (though it’s not native) which has flowers at the leaf axils instead of terminally. But I like to have as many kinds of mint as possible, and that means buy the plants early, while selections are good.
I miss the strawberry mint, though. It was my favorite last year, but this year it seems unavailable.
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I’m a huge fan of mints myself. The first houseplant I ever managed to nurture in a window was a mint. I think for that reason alone, they hold a special place in my heart and in my garden.
Today, I have four different mints in my garden. Lemon mint (lemon balm) is my family’s hands-down favorite. It is a must-have here in South Georgia due to its insect repelling properties and the zing it brings to iced tea. It was the first herb my children learned to identify and the one I can always count on them to be chewing on when my back is turned.
I bought a small plant several years ago and I’ve divided and rooted it many times. When the mints took over my husband’s vegetable box, he insisted I remove them. I needed somewhere to put them so he cleared and hardscaped a kitchen garden for me. Between what I’ve planted in my kitchen garden and the containers of tiny sprouts I’m nurturing along, I have more than twenty separate lemon mint plants alone.
I cannot conceive of a garden without mint.
I don’t really count lemon balm as a mint, though I usually have some. It’s not cold-hardy, though.
This year’s lineup includes curly mint, apple mint, variegated pineapple mint (a favorite) orange mint, spearmint, banana mint (new), grapefruit mint (new). chocolate mint, ginger mint and two named varieties, Mojo and Kentucky Colonel. Couldn’t find lime mint or strawberry mint, which I’ve liked in past years, or Corsican mint (looks like baby’s tears.) I plant mine in the holes atop the cement blocks that make up my raised beds, but the snow just melted off those a few days ago this year.