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| Calamintha nepeta 9-26-10 |
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Run for your lives!!! It's... a MINT!
Mints have a reputation for being weedy thugs that don't belong in any garden. While I'll agree that many species of mint are horribly invasive, there are a number of them that are great garden plants. However it's nearly impossible to convince many gardeners of this fact. One of the best mints for the garden is Calamintha nepeta. We've grown this plant in our display garden at the garden center for 10 years now, and it doesn't run and we haven't seen any stray seedlings from it. It isn't a huge plant, growing about 15" tall and 24" wide in full sun. It's a great butterfly and bee plant, and blooms non-stop June until frost. It isn't horribly picky about soil as long as it isn't too wet and is hardy to zone 4. The fragrant foliage is glossy and isn't susceptible to many pests or diseases. I don't know what isn't to love about this plant, but the average person runs when they hear "Calamint". I propose a name change to something more appropriate that can't be confused with mint. Like Superawesomefreakishlylongbloomingcoolplant.
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Totally agreed! Catmint is one of my absolute favorite plants (it must be, I have it practically everywhere in my garden!). I love how care-free it is and how floriferous also. I adore the scent, sort of like minty bubble-gum. I only wish the neighborhood cats wouldn't care for it quite as much :-)
ReplyDeleteSign me up! I am almost done with the mulch. I could use some plants in the back garden. Maybe bushes. I had to transplant a couple of plants on the north garden by the porch because the cool huge plants (large puffy ball like pink flowers) have encroached upon my other plants. I am just swinging past this area now with the mulch. Could use you out at the house a some point for some advice sometime. Maybe I will take some pics and bring them home with me this weekend.
ReplyDeleteBringing pics home would be best. I will probably be working some overtime now that I'm a person down. + Finishing up the greenhouse.
ReplyDelete