The Great Chocolate Mint Rebellion

[habitat_gardener]

I grow my chocolate mint and moroccan mint in containers. When it starts to overgrow the containers (or escape from the holes at the bottom), I trim the roots and compost them (and haven't had an invasion yet), and I dry the leaves for tea. It dies back in the winter, so I'm surprised there was enough of it to fill a bushel in the land of snow.

I had mint tea tonight from mint I dried a year or two ago. My plants outdoors are just starting to come back and don't have enough foliage for tea yet.

My lemon balm has stayed in one place for at least 5 years. I don't water it, and we get no summer rain. I cut it to the ground at least 3 times a year (just before it starts to flower), and it comes back beautifully. I get a few seedlings here and there, but I know what they look like and can pull them when they're a quarter-inch wide. The first couple times I trimmed it, I dried the leaves. But then I realized it comes back so fast, I can almost always pick fresh lemon balm, so now it just gets composted.

[robbyjoe01]

My wife made me buy her a small pot of chocolate mint four years ago and now it's all over the gardens and the smell is so sweet. I use it as border and munch on it as I garden not to mention a couple of lbs I give away every year. Ya do have to keep an eye on it cause it can get out of control

[tam91]

I have Kentucky Colonel Spearmint which I do love. It has escaped a little, despite valient efforts - but it smells really good when I mow the lawn. Maybe I'll just let it go, and have a mint lawn - would make lawn mowing a pleasant prospect.

[ljp]

My chocolate mint barely survives the winter, indoors or out. Move your bed to zone 3a. I do have other mint that wants to take over.

[coronabarb]

My chocolate mint died out...I need to go get some more before the summer heat hits in a few months. :-)

[lurley]

Tam,
I may actually end up with a mint yard in the end. Hubby dumped a wheel barrow full of roots we had dug up into a low spot in the field. Guess he figured the roots and dirt would help fill the spot. Well we had a dry day finally and I hooked up the bush hog to go whack down the field (grass is over three feet high!) I came upon a low growing patch in the field and when I got close I saw lemon balm and mint growing there where he had dumped the wheelbarrow. At first I was mad, "didn't he know better?"' Then I thought that at least that's one area I don't have to mow since it doesn't grow as high as all that field grass. A whole field of mint that I never have to mow sounds kinda good. There is peppermint in the grass by my strawberry bed that smells great when I mow over there, and I don't even like peppermint.

[tache]

Anybody who lives in western could get some of any kind of mint from Craig's list in Eugene. Luck us!

[BigBrownDogHouse]

We had spearmint growing in our backyard that I grew up at in Chicago. It originally grew in the backyard but then my folks dug out a bush and moved it to the side of the house. Some spearmint went along for the ride. That happened almost 50 years ago.

We lived on a corner so once the spearmint sprouted on the side of the house, passer-bys would pick it. It was quite an attraction.

Anyway my folks moved from that home back in the mid 90's. On the day they were moving, I dug up a couple roots....not much, just a few.

Planted it to the side of my house up here and still have it growing. For years it seemed I had it cornered pretty well but that's changing.

It certainly likes to creep. I like a bit in the lawn over there. Makes it smell like Wrigley's Spearmint when you mow. However, it continues to creep into my 4 o'clock garden and I struggle with keeping it out of there. Those roots just go nuts.

Anywho! I guess I was just trying to say that I still have Spearmint from a plant that was spreading itself over 50 years ago! Plus, the story from my older siblings is that it was there when the family moved into that house making it older than that. Well before my time.

[desertlzbn]

I would love some real peppermint, NOT spearmint. I love peppermint but abhor spearmint. Go figure.

[tam91]

Haha dump out the roots, yeah I bet they grew! That mint just said "thank you" to the hubby.

My spearmint "Mo" spends great effort, and usually succeeds, in breaking out of places.

[Elliot]

We use the mint in tea as well as in cold water with ice.

[beefsteak]

Tea here also, I think fresh mint tea is delicious!

[BigBrownDogHouse]

Fresh brewed ice tea with some freshly picked mint is great on a hot day. Kids love picking it too! Fills the deck with the smell of chewing gum.

[pattiann]

Bumping this thread back up...

Years ago I had lemon and orange mint in my yard but it has died off along with the strawberries (boohoo) I'd love to get mint from any of you who want to share your bounty! Any variety would be terrific, actually, and I love all the ideas I have read about making jellies and cookies and teas.

A friend gave me some mint last year but it never thrived at all, so this year I hope to get a patch next to the walkway filled with mint.
Let me know? I've never seen it on Freecycle here in camden county, nj, or on Craigslist!

Thanks in advance, message me!
Patti

[stormymater]

Hey Pattiann - this is a PERFECT time of year to post a "Wanted: clump of mint" on your local freecycle. Bet $ to doughnuts you get some close to your home that way. People are coming out & gasping at mint's advances and are beginning to get out & tear it up now,