MINT (Mentha)

Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia & N America

 

There are 13 to 19 species of Mint; they are aromatic, usually perennial herbs which prefer damp ground, doing well in partial shade & growing in most soils. Their vigorous roots can make this species an invasive one. A mint should be planted either above ground in a container, or with the container sunk in the ground.

 

‘the Mints have a biting, aromatick bitterish Sapor with a strong fragrant Smell abounding with a pungent Volatile Salt and a Subtil Sulphur which destroyeth Acids, and herein doth lodge the Causation of such medicinal Virtues in this Herb and others of the like Nature.’

Dr Westmacott, 1694, quoted by Maud Grieve in A Modern Herbal, 1931.

 

Mints were historically used as strewing herbs, spread over floors to be walked on, thus releasing their scent. They were also used medicinally, as a natural insect repellent & as flavouring for food.

“all kinds were used in food and medicine. Mint vinegar was used as a mouthwash; mint sauce restored the appetite. Used for all stomach ailments, in fevers and in treating venom and wounds. Wilfred Strabo [Abbot of Reichenau, scholar & theological writer] said in the 10th century that there were as many types of mint as the sparks that fly from Vulcan’s forge– in other words, lots!”

http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/teen.htm

Bees’ favourite.

Mint flowers have the reputation of being irresistable to bees, & our two longtime resident mints, Apple Mint and Black Peppermint, have been bringing them in for years.

We tried growing Calamint, a native wild mint from the UK, in open ground one year. It has ACID GREEN leaves & PALE BLUE flowers dotted singly along its stems. Winter weather finished it off. We have had success, however, with growing mints in containers – Black Peppermint & Applemint. All plant growth above ground level dies back in winter, regrowing again in spring.

 

 

 

 

Furry, triangular little Mint Moths (above) appeared soon after our mints were planted out, & are now part of the life of the garden.

This is a cross between Spearmint (White Mint, native to Europe) and Water Mint, hybridised in the London area shortly before the eighteenth century. Small spires of tiny, WHITE/PINK flowers appear in mid to late summer on tall stems of Mentha x piperita. Intense fragrance is released when contact is made with its leaves.

Other names: Lammint

VIDEO – BUMBLEBEE, MINT MOTH ON BLACK PEPPERMINT

Europe, Mediterranean, Africa & Asia

The aromatic Applemint has large, soft rounded leaves on tall stems that grow to over one metre (36 inches) & will require staking. Sweetly scented, both leaves & stems are covered with a soft, furry down. In June, spires of tiny WHITE flowers appear at the stem tips, which look as though they are coated with icing sugar.

Bees’ Favourite.

The flowers are visited by Bumblebees and Mint Moths, among others.

Other names: Round-leaved mint, Wooly mint.

The leaves of our Applemint are sometimes coated in powdery mildew by summer’s end. One year the plant blew over in high winds before it could be staked, leaning into foliage & flowers of Hardy Geraniums ‘Wargrave Pink’ & ‘Buxton’s Variety’. The powdery mildew never got to it. Free of pests & diseases, the Hardy G’s apparently helped a neighbour resist powdery mildew. Companion planting!

 At the Anglo Saxon Herb Garden of Cambridge University’s Lucy Cavendish College, mints and other herbs found to have been used before 1066 are used in the planting.

http://www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/assets/images/LCC_Herb_Garden_DL_Leaflet.pdf