On June 2nd, I talked about my mints and how I pulled them up. So I had to replace them. Yesterday I talked to some friends and found out that indeed they had spearmint. This was not what I was looking for. One of my friends came through and told me they had mint and several different kinds. So today I went over to raid their garden and find out what they had. They had spearmint in plenty and a little bit of pineapple mint and some weird fuzzy mint I hadn’t seen before and still don’t know what it is. None of them interested me much. They said there was peppermint in there, but I couldn’t find it. However they did have variegated lemon balm. How pretty. I took a sprig of that. I thought I got a little root but when I got back home I found I was mistaken. It will probably root in water. I will see.
Since my friends that live close couldn’t help me out at least with mint, I shopped around. I did find a lot of pineapple mint and spearmint. A couple of shops had varieties of peppermint, however I held off. I wanted some fun mints too, like chocolate mint. One of my commenters (Weed Whackin’ Wenches) said they had orange mint and that sounded so good. I really wanted it too. None of the shops had either of those two mints. I found a place on the web to sell them all to me, but required three live plants if they were going to ship. They also had a peppermint called Candymint that I wanted to try. So I ordered online instead. Sadly they are not scheduled to ship until the 16th, so I’ll have to wait.
For instant gratification I bought other plants at the garden center: two basils and two thymes. I have my lemon thyme in the garden, but my French thyme died on me about 5 years ago and I’ve never bothered to replace it. So now I have both French thyme and English thyme. I like the French thyme better, but the English is hardier. For the basils I picked lemon basil (do you detect a theme of lemon flavored plants in my garden?) and Thai basil. The basil seed I sowed of lemon and holy basil never germinated. Well a few little plants did but they lasted about 3 seconds in the garden before something ate them. My new basils are now out in the garden hardening off. Hopefully they will last longer.
Since I didn’t take my camera with me on my journeys, I’ve given you more photos of the garden in the rain. It was another pretty but cool day in the rain, but I'm looking forward now to some sun. If only it would stay cool, but it is destined to get very, very hot this weekend.
I kept looking for the mint in these photos :) Like you, I think a garden looks so pretty during a soft rain, but we have had way too much of it lately. Hope you get some sun, but not the heat.
ReplyDeleteMy husband loves to grow mint - and my daughter loves to eat it. Once I tell him about the varieties you mentioned here I know he'll search everywhere to find some (especially the chocolate mint). Now I'm craving mint tea - LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog. I love your photogrpahy and I'm gathering veg growing tips!
ReplyDeleteRose: I wish I had brought my camera with me, then I could have had mint photos. I'm going to have to remember to bring it with my all the time, but it is a hard habit to start.
ReplyDeleteRose: If he wants to order from the internet, he should do it soon. I noticed that most of them stop shipping in the middle of June. Of course the best way to get them is find them at the local garden centers, but I had no luck with that and one of our garden centers is huge. It had about 8 varieties of basil and of thyme, but only 2 of mint.
Jo: Thanks
Hi -
ReplyDeleteI love your blog. I am just starting to grow veggies this season and it is so addictive as a hobby. Your blog is packed useful with info and tips for novices like me.
I was curious to know the name of the flower in the second pic of this post. (i.e. the one with the white bud and burgundy rims - I have this in my flower bed and its gorgeous when it blooms. But I have no idea what it is!)
Thanks
BJ
Thanks bj. It is a peony and it is the first time it will bloom in my garden. I can't wait for it to open.
ReplyDeleteHello Daphne,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments on my blog. I have tried Shasta daisies too, they succumb to black fly, a nasty little aphid, and I had to run hundred of them off every night (I dont use chemicals). In the end I gave in and nature won.
Your Hostas look really good and healthy, I have a few, but they are usually pretty holey; slug snack attacks.
You might enjoy signing up to Blotanical, a blogging community for gardeners around the world. There is a link on my side bar if you want more info,or visit
http://www.blotanical.com
Regards,
Zoë
Hi Daphne! Do you plant your mint directly in the ground? I wanted to do this to create a path for my daughter, but I was warned against it. Many people have told me that it is invasive and hard to pull up. Do you disagree with them? Thanks for your help! - Melissa
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your mint garden. I've planted lemon basil, thai basil and peppermint in my garden. I hear it keeps insects away. I really love it! My father has a huge garden full of Thai mints that we use for Asian soups. Yum!
ReplyDeleteZoe: I actually am a member of Blotanical. But I didn't grab the code for the banner when I signed up. When I get a chance I'm going to have to look around on their site for that.
ReplyDeleteMelissa: I've always planted mints in containers. My old mint was planted in a 1/2 barrel in the area with my other herbs. It is right by the little stone path. This new mint when it shows up will either go in containers or inside edging and this time separated so one mint can't take over another one. Since I've never had the guts to try to plant it without being contained, I really don't know how bad it is that way.
dp: I've never heard of Thai mints. What do they smell like?
I wish you could have visited my garden as well in your quest for mint....I could give you all kinds of cuttings as I love to grow mint! I grow peppermint, orange mint, grapefruit mint, apple mint, chocolate mint, banana mint, and that is just naming a few! LOL!
ReplyDeleteYour pictures give me peony envy!
Mmmmm banana mint. I've never heard of that one. That sounds so yummy. I obviously need more minty friends.
ReplyDelete