9/28/2023 0 Comments Growing chocolate mintThis flavors your candy canes and tea, but can also be used medicinally and to scent oil diffusers. Peppermintįresh peppermint is a bit too strong to eat, which is why it’s processed into peppermint oil. You’ll feel like a kid in a candy store with licorice mint! The sweet flavor makes the leaves perfect to use in cookies, scones, jams, and ice creams. You can think of this type of mint the same way! It has bright green leaves with curled edges, a sweet flavor, and plenty of vitamin B and C. Curly Mintĭo you remember The Three Stooges? The one who was likeable and trustworthy was named Curly. This fresh flavor is also found in chewing gum, tea, and essential oils. The mints you grab in tins at the grocery store are typically made with spearmint. The purple flowers are similar to the ones on pennyroyal plants and are a huge draw for butterflies and bees. It’s extracted and used in food, drinks, cough medicines, and even cigarettes! CatmintĬontrary to how the name sounds, this type of mint isn’t made from cats. This is a type of wild mint that is grown all over the world. Calamint has been used as a form of natural medicine to treat breathing problems. It’s super textured and can even be hairy or fuzzy. CalamintĪt first glance, it might be hard to tell that calamint is a type of mint. These look particularly lovely in hanging baskets and are a must-have if you’re into gardening. In the summer, the pennyroyal mint plant blooms purple or blue flowers. It has heart-shaped leaves, and as the name suggests, a basil fragrance. It’s also possible to get mint extract in bottles or dried mint leaves, which if kept in the freezer, can last for up to 3 years! Basil Mintīasil mint comes from a mint plant that lasts over two years and grows over two feet tall. You can buy fresh mint leaves at the grocery store. It would be crazy to try to list all those mint names, so let’s focus on the ones you know and love. You may be surprised to learn there are over 600 varieties of mint on the planet! The mint plant produces a ton of herbs and flavors that are distinct from one another. You can use it for just about anything! Not only that, but it’s also gluten-free and a great source of vitamin A, which helps improve your eye health, brain function, immune system, and of course, stinky breath. The best part about mint is its versatility. It’s bright green, produces a pleasing aroma, and is very easy to grow in your own garden. I hope this helps you make some decisions for your own outdoor gardens.Mint is actually a type of plant ( Mentha genus) that’s native to the eastern Mediterranean area. Chocolate mint has the best mint flavor.Apple mint is the prettiest and makes the best edible bouquets.Spearmint is the hardiest for outdoor gardens in cool climates.The chocolate scent is nice, and once you’ve smelled/tasted at least one other type of mint side-by-side, it’s easy to tell which is the chocolate.Ĭhocolate mint plants have purple stalks and veins in their leaves. Chocolate MintĬhocolate mint smells how you think it would – like if you mixed a strong peppermint mint with subtle hints of cocoa. They’re very soft, not abrasive or sharp. These fuzzes aren’t obtrusive or annoying when you’re eating it, though. You can see their fine little hairs under the leaves and running along the stalks. It seems to want to spend its energy growing taller rather than sending as many runners out and covering more ground. But it has a nice, sweet mint scent and flavor.Įven though its leaves get massive, I’d consider apple mint to be a more delicate and fragile mint than spearmint.Ī patch of outdoor apple mint also doesn’t seem to grow in as densely as spearmint or chocolate mint. The mint stalks get much taller than spearmint, and the leaves are much larger & softer.Īpple mint doesn’t hold up as well during hot, hot days or in aggressive wind conditions. While we’ve had the spearmint for 4 years, we decided to try a new type, too: apple mint. When we don’t actively harvest it, our honeybees love the stalks of tiny purple flowers it sends out. The edges of the leaves look like they’d be spiky or sharp, but they’re flexible and gentle. It stands up well in the wind, doesn’t get burnt by Alaska’s summer midnight sun, doesn’t mind if our summers get hot or stay cool, & it has proven to be very winter hardy. Spearmint is a dependable cold weather mint. We’ve now had that patch of spearmint for 4 years – it comes back strong every spring. I intentionally chose a garden area close to the house, hoping the extra bit of snow protection & warmth would help overwinter it. In other climates, mint grows so well it’s comparable to a wild weed that’s so successful it can be tough to contain! But some folks here say our long, cold winters kill their outdoor mint, while others are able to over winter it.Īnchorage has many micro-climates, so whether mint will survive the winter in your yard may depend on where you live & exactly where you plant it.
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