8993 An all round beauty Mentha spicata

Looks like a meadow full of lovely mint Lori! How large is your area you have planted up with this pretty one?

I love the scent and have to touch it .

Hi Kate! it's an heirloom. It's ancestor lived in my grandmother's garden. Roots were shared with my Mom and Dad... and I've brought roots with me from their garden to just about every place I've lived in since I was first married. It is the true spicata... delightful scent and delicious taste. Grandma had a fabulous recipe for iced tea which centred around the mint. I always called it Mint Tea! but it was mint and citrus as well as Orange Pekoe.. thick and pungent! I started with a 6 inch pot of roots pulled from freezing soil in Nov. of 2010 ...just weeks befor we were due to move to our present place. It was planted beside the stream but has roamed it's way into the watercourse and crowded the siberian irises and ligularias. It thrives on tough love... if it's too dominant I just loosen the soil with a fork and lift the roots. will wait for early next spring to reclaim the creek bed. ...mmm...if I had to guess... maybe 20 sq. ft?
Isn't it enticing, Amy? I can't pass it without nipping one of the tiny axil branches and stashing it between cheek and jaw! it tastes soooo good. Last year I used it as a strewing herb in my basement crawl space. It seems that spiders (most insects too) and mice don't care for the smell of it and won't live where it grows. great air freshener too! I put it in a vase with cut flowers.

Lori, thank you for your reply, it was a lovely explanation and back story too! Do you still brew Grandma’s iced tea?

Thank you Kate! As a matter of fact, YES! Every spring when the mint is at it's most tender and delicious... I pick about a dozen young stems and put them in the bottom of a gallon crock with three 2 cup Orange Pekoe blend teabags more or less depending on your taste. (I've started using tea bags in preference to the loose tea my grandma used.) Fill with boiling water and steep as long as you like... The tea and the mint flavours mingle beautifully. Once it's brewed remove the mint and teabags and let cool to decant. in the bottom of a large decanter mix juice of 1 fresh squeezed orange. 1 large lime, and a large lemon retaining as much pulp as you like ( I like lots, thousands don't) wash and add a couple of small sprigs of mint.. and a quarter cup of granulated white sugar. (Optional) Add the warm tea mixture to the decanter and taste for sweetness and strength.. Add ice cubes to achieve individual taste... some like it strong, others like it helpless. I prefer a strong brew with lots of citrus and no sugar. Yummy!
Occasionally I add a 1 inch cube of ginger root to the brew... it adds a lovely zing... but it's my own addition..Grandma did not. She used her ginger root to make Ginger beer... (definitely NOT to my taste).

I bet that the bees love you, growing them a field full of flowers. The idea that mice don't like it is terrific, I am going to give it a go in the loft space where we get mice clomping about overhead!

It seems to be working honeysuckle. The aroma is wonderful. Sometimes, depending on the amount of air circulation, the air in attics and crawls spaces can be a little musty... the mint takes that away and if it's disturbed it releases even more smell. I hang it up to dry and replace it each spring and last thing in the autumn. Hope it works on the mice! :-)