black peppermint

For some reason, I haven’t written much about growing herbs this year. I don’t know why, they are a large part of my garden. Now that the showy flower season is over, it is time for me to get back to them.

The photo above is black peppermint (mentha x piperita), a mint used mainly for tea. This plant is also a good one to plant around the doorway, as it repels ants and beetles. As a child, my mom used to give us cold peppermint tea to relieve stomach aches. I still keep it for that purpose, and sometimes drink it in the afternoon, just as a refreshing drink. This is another plant like lavender and dill, that I like to hoe or mow around. The fragrance of the plant fills the air, and makes for a very pleasant task. In the past few years, I have kept my mints contained in partly buried circles of garden edging. It is not as attractive as I would like, but the ring disappears as the plant grows. This method works well for me, and I am not constantly pulling runners out of the other plants.