Chocolate mint iced tea. Steph's Meadow Tea. Mojitos. Mint juleps. All are within reach if you have a somewhat sunny spot and a container to host a mint plant or two. Mints will even come up year-after-year within a planter. With little to-do. And, when all is said and done, you'll be happier that you kept them in the container garden - as they can be very invasive within the regular garden patch.I grow Kentucky Colonel mint (perfect for all cocktails), chocolate mint and apple mint. Plant them in a nice potting soil and throw some organic fertilizer their way every-so-often (think compost tea) if you are so inclined. They'll produce all summer long.
What could be better, on a hot, sultry eve, than to have friends over on your deck or porch - among your mint plants - while you serve up cocktails fresh from your container garden? Not much.
Is 2 p.m. too early to start drinking on a spring Friday afternoon?! Ack. I have to stay off the sauce for a while longer. I'll probably treat myself to an herbal iced tea instead. Willa will be the better for it.
5 comments:
They do make great container plants.~~Dee
I put some mint in a pot last winter but the pot ended up in tiny little pieces this spring. I'll have to invest in a freezeproof pot, I guess!
I've been wondering what to plant in my big half barrel this year - I think I just found the answer. Thanks!
Thanks for encouraging folks to keep their mints in pots! I know of several important sites with rare plants that are in danger of being destroyed by mints.
Also don't forget that there are a large selection of native mints too, many of which also make great tea. The mountain mints (Pycnanthemum sp.) are especially beautiful, fragrant, not invasive, and butterflies love them. Be cautious though, mountain mint does contain the same chemical as pennyroyal (pulegone),which isn't safe for pregnant women.
Other notable native mints include, Mentha arvensis (hairy wood mint), Clinopodium (wild Savory), and Monarda.
Yay fellow mint growers. I'm tempted to get a few more varieties - as things start to heat up in VA. And, last week's Kentucky Derby had me thinking about mint juleps!!!
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