How many types of Mint??!!
According to this article, 7500 varieties of Lamianceae (mint).
Some of these I have never even heard of.
Comments
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I never knew that mint would act as a squirrel repellent. I'm so happy to hear that. We have dozens upon dozens of squirrels here that are so destructive! I will have to plant peppermint around the things that I want to keep them away from. I use spent coffee grounds to keep them out of the garden, but I like the idea of planting something to keep them out of other things.
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I have a tron of speamint which I use for every thing and numerous other mints. One of my favorite is chocolate mint. I don't have as big of patch of that but if I am patient I will.
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I also like Orange mint and Thai mint.
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It is amazing! I'm trying to add 2-4 varieties of mints, basils, tomatoes, etc each year. It would be overwhelming to plant them all at once.
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This is a good article but it is a bit confusing.
While all mints are members of the Lamiaceae family. Not all Lamiaceaes are mints. Mints are Mentha species, within the Lamiaceae family. Lamiaceae has 236 genus' with over 7500 individual species within those genus'. This family is actually named for one of the other genus', Lamium species.
Lemon Balm is listed as a mint but is actually Melissa officinalis, not a Mentha species.
Pennyroyal should have a huge warning on it which this article doesn't list. NOT FOR USE DURING PREGNANCY.
I have had all of these mints listed growing in my garden at some point with the exception of Egyptian mint. I currently have 6 species. Peppermint, Spearmint, Chocolate Mint, Orange Mint, Apple Mint and Strawberry Mint.
Traditional English Mint Sauce (for lamb & peas) is a favourite in my house. I make several bottles every year. But Spearmint is by far the favourite to use for that purpose.
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I was glad to see the bit on ginger mint. I just found ginger mint at the local nursery the other day, I hadn't heard of it before, so bought a start to add to my mint collection, and was wondering what it might be best for. I can see it being very nice in a marinade for meat or poultry as the author suggests, and teas of course, probably as part of a blend. There are likely many more good uses as well. It is always such fun getting acquainted with a new-to-me mint!
And I'm wondering which mint that happy cat is enjoying in the last photo. Catmint maybe? Seems unlikely he'd be rolling in pennyroyal, but then with cats anything is possible. I used to have a big old Maine Coon who ate a tunnel, about a foot high and three feet long, into a big catnip stand. He would spend hours in his tunnel, stretched out belly up, tripping out on the catnip.
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Catnip is also of the Lamiaceae family.
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I've never heard the number of mint species but I can believe that it is in the thousands.
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I don't have many mints. Mother wart, peppermint, rosemary growing outside. Shall have to plant some more mints in pots to put in the garden to see if it will repel whatever is eating all my peas and beans.
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Wow! I grow only three kinds!
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What about Mountain mint?
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Never heard of mountain mint before. When I looked it up I expected to find that it was a variety of wild mint or water mint but no. It is the Pycnathemum genus with 20 species all native to North America. But none in my province. Looks like many of the species are endemic to North Carolina.
I am going to have to do some more research on this one. Looks like some of the species might have some useful medicinal properties. And all seem to be edible with the exception of Short-toothed Mountain Mint which has a high pugelone content.
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@Cornelius So glad you asked about Mountain Mint as I was wondering about it. I have seen it at several nurseries over the past week and tried to remember why I had been wanting to buy it. Anybody remember writing or seeing something about it?
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@Cornelius @frogvalley Here you go.
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Wow! I had no idea that there were that many different kinds! I love mint. It's one of my favorite plants to grow and I would love to branch out and try some new varieties.
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Today I went to our local nursery that always has at least one new thing and today I picked up some mint, chocolate mint, Pineapple mint, Catnip & peppermint which I have grown before, new to me are Crispa Curled Spearmint, Moroccan Mint and Midnight Mint.
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Oooh! Midnight mint! What is that one like?
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I wonder if Midnight mint is one of the Supermints(?). Richter's has something that is called Midnight Mojito Mint.
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Yes it is Midnight Mojito (the Mojito was below the soil), it has a strong smell but I got it for the pretty purple flowers.
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I had never heard of mojito mint either, and not being able to resist a new mint, I had to look it up. The sites that turned up were mostly nurseries selling the plant, and didn't have a lot of information about it. But this article has some good information and even a few recipes. Now I have to get mojito mint too!
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@Cornelius we have mountain mint and it really grows in mountain pastures.
@Lisa K Catnip in German is “Katzenminze” which means Cat mint. Cats doooo love it. Some people buy dried herb for the cats to play.
I have Korean mint a very strong plant. And peppermint, and chocolate mint, and pineapple mint, and apple mint and catnip...
I add mint to my herbal teas and they make my herbal mixtures taste better or like mint 😊
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My daughter's cat LOOOOVES catnip. She can't grow it anywhere without the cat finding it and destroying it. Rubs on it, chews on it, claws at it, lays down and rolls all over it. Right now she has two plants that are underneath a couple of old 5 gallon water jugs that have the bottom cut off. I'm surprised the cat hasn't knocked the jugs over to get at the plants. Her neighbour's cats are the same. My cat on the other hand; she could care less about it. I have a tray of babies that I have dug up as well as many others in the garden and she pays no attention at all. I have given it to her dried as well but still very little reaction.
Mojito mint is quite strong as I recall. I had one for a couple of years before I removed it for being too invasive. So is Moroccan mint; both strong and invasive.
I haven't found any new mints in any of my local garden centres this year. Strawberry mint was the last new one I acquired.
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I also picked up some peppermint, chocolate mint and pineapple mint they other day. I already have a couple of spearmints and a Thai mint.
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I have spearmint and chocolate mint. Have bought apple mint and orange mint, but they did not make it. Had peppermint, but I managed to weed it all out of my garden. Spearmint, on the other hand, keeps on growing and spreading.
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Thank you @RustBeltCowgirl ! I'm going to pick up some of Mountain Mint - if any of the nurseries still have any. I think it was the insect repellant property that caught my eye.
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I just got some cuttings of mountain mint and I am currently rooting them is a glass of water! Here is a link to get some mint seed:
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