Mint has been used for thousands of years as a remedy for digestive ailments and as a flavor for food. The leaves and stems can be used fresh or dried; they are harvested for drying in August as the flowers start to open. Mint is a rhizomatous perennial plant grown for its culinary and medicinal properties or just for ground cover.
Pollinator insects, specifically honey bees, favor mint flowers. All Mentha species are very prone to hybridization (seed does not always breed true) thus the content of medicinal oils vary with each new generation. If you want to keep a particular aroma of mint in your gardens it’s best to propagate them by cuttings or division.
Spearmint Mentha spicata - L.
The original European mint, the name 'spear' mint comes from the pointed leaf tips. Many hybrids today are some form of spearmint cross. Besides the normal digestive therapy mint provides, the stems are also used as a poultice on bruises.Peppermint Mentha x piperita
A natural hybrid of M. aquatica x M. spicata peppermint cannot bear viable seed so must be propagated by cuttings or division. The essential oil, menthol, is obtained from the whole plant, is considered an antiseptic, strongly antibacterial and toxic in large doses.
Applemint Mentha x rotundifolia
A very vigorous mint, applemint effectively out-competes Bermuda grass. We use applemint as a tool when forest gardening and find it aggressive enough to dominate over weeds like Bermuda grass but easily removed too.
‘Wintermint’ Mentha spicata x rotundifolia
A natural hybrid of M. rotundifolia x M. spicata –we speculate; this particular variety germinated mid-winter a few years ago amongst the last potatoes. The leaves appear similar to spearmint but the flavor is sweeter and mild, more like the applemint.
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| Spearmint Mentha spicata - L. |
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| Applemint Mentha x rotundifolia |
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| Peppermint Mentha x piperita |
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| Wintermint Mentha spicata x rotundifolia |
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