Learn tips for creating your most beautiful home and garden ever. Les Engles achieved Master Gardener through the Camden County Extension of the Rutgers Master Gardeners Program. He is an arboretum curator with over peppermint vodka years of experience.

He describes himself as a “tree-hugging dirt worshipper” who is a member of multiple gardening societies and foundations. She is a Master Gardener and lead gardener in a Plant-A-Row, which is a program that offers thousands of pounds of organically-grown vegetables to local food banks. Debra is a member of The Spruce Gardening and Plant Care Review Board. This amazingly aromatic herb is one of the oldest herbs used for ritual, culinary, and medicinal purposes.

Today it is used for aesthetics, being cherished for its lovely refreshing fragrance and taste. Whether you decide to plant it in your garden directly or in a container, it will grow with very little effort on your part. Because peppermint aggressively spreads, most gardeners plant it in containers. No matter the planting method, peppermint is a marvelous herb that has many uses. Peppermint can grow in full sun or partial shade. It can even tolerate some dappled shade, unlike most herbs. Consistently moist soil is the key to making sure your peppermint plant is happy and possesses tons of flavor.

But be careful not to overdo it. Peppermint, like most mints, cannot tolerate standing water or soaking soil. Having soggy roots is a surefire way to kill or harm your plant. Peppermint is unusually hardy and can survive light frosts but cannot endure extended cold snaps in cold climates, USDA Cold Hardiness Zones 5 and below. Avoid fertilizing most herbs, especially plants in the genus Mentha.

The flavor of herbs relies on the oils in their flowers and leaves. Accelerating their growth can lead to small profuse growth with many flowers and leaves and leggy stems rather than large, rich flowers and foliage with concentrated oils. Mint might be one of the easiest plants to propagate from cuttings. Use sterile scissors or snips to cut a stem section four inches in length just below a leaf node.

Watch for root formation, which should occur within a few weeks. Let a good root system develop, then transplant the cutting into a pot fill with quality potting soil. Trim the top two inches from the plant to allow most of the energy to go into the root system. Press the peppermint seeds on the surface of seed starting mix.

The seeds will be tiny, so use care and do not press too hard. You do not need to bury the seeds with soil. Because mint has the habit of spreading everywhere, growing peppermint in a pot is a wise choice. Choose a large pot with adequate draining holes that will accommodate vigorous root growth. Provide your plant with good drainage while also maintaining a moist environment with proper mulching. Citrata’ has a citrusy fragrance and is often called orange mint.

Crispa’ has a trailing habit with bright green crinkled leaves with tiny pale lavender blooms. Lavender Mint’ is a fast-growing ground cover with reddish stems, dark green leaves, and profuse lavender blooms. It is ideal for use in savory meat and vegetable dishes. Lime Mint’ has attractive bronze-green leaves what have a fresh lime-scent. Variegata’ is a ground cover that produces spikes of violet flowers. Its green leaves have a creamy white variegation. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title.

Although the genus Mentha comprises more than 25 species, the one in most common use is peppermint. Chinese peppermint, or bohe, is derived from the fresh leaves of M. They are dark green with reddish veins, with an acute apex and coarsely toothed margins. The leaves and stems are usually slightly fuzzy. Flowering season lasts from mid- to late summer. The chromosome number is variable, with 2n counts of 66, 72, 84, and 120 recorded.

Peppermint typically occurs in moist habitats, including stream sides and drainage ditches. Being a hybrid, it is usually sterile, producing no seeds and reproducing only vegetatively, spreading by its runners. Peppermint generally grows best in moist, shaded locations, and expands by underground rhizomes. Young shoots are taken from old stocks and dibbled into the ground about 0. They grow quickly and cover the ground with runners if it is permanently moist. For the home gardener, it is often grown in containers to restrict rapid spreading. The wild form of the plant is less suitable for this purpose, with cultivated plants having been selected for more and better oil content.

They may be allowed to lie and wilt a little before distillation, or they may be taken directly to the still. Andes Chocolate Mints, a popular confection. Citrata’ includes a number of varieties including ‘eau de Cologne’ mint, grapefruit mint, lemon mint, and orange mint. Its leaves are aromatic and hairless. Variegata’ has mottled green and pale yellow leaves. Verticillium wilt is a major constraint in peppermint cultivation. Peppermint has a high menthol content.