All my attempts at growing mint have been pretty unspectacular. Mostly I just root cuttings, stick them in dirt with something like lemon geranium or lavender, and then they rot to death. I 
have had one success with the lemon geranium (about the fourth attempt actually took, but subsequent ones were horrible failures), and the plant is doing pretty well. Even outdoors at Mr. Yogato, the mint was a bit more finicky than I thought it had a right to be--about half of the original rooted cuttings died, and the remaining three clumps are really not as invasive as I had hoped they would be.
But! Luckily I have a coworker/friend and her boyfriend (they also signed up for the same CSA I have) who know what to get a plant-obsessed birthday boy! I had people over last night to celebrate my birthday, which was earlier in the week. Coworker/friend and her boyfriend brought this potted mint from their yard
with the caveat "It's invasive!" I only wish it were as invasive where I'm trying to grow it!
I kept having the word "stolon" run through my head--I'm glad it was the right one! Beyond being able to root from any node and having fast growth, mint sends out these hardy shoots to spread out--you can see two stolons dangling in the back of the mint in the picture to the right. Each node of a stolon has two tiny leaves--once they root, each node will basically generate a new plant. Imagine having a lawn full of mint. Mowing it seems the worst thing to do, because each section has the potential to root and make a new plant.
But, hey--it'll be the best smelling mow-job you'll ever do!
I had one stolon from the successful mint in my lemon geranium pot; it ran slightly under the dirt and emerged on the other side of the pot, so I'm inclined to say that maybe mint stolons are the kind the try to go under soil (unlike strawberry stolons, which are aboveground), what for the ease of rooting and for complete ineffectiveness of mowing, but there are probably plenty that happen to be aboveground, too, because plants just like to mess with us.
New Spearmint Plant
One year after planting mint in my garden a long time ago, I was screaming "Die! Die! Die!" I have had only one other plant that wanted to take over the universe as much - a yellow sedum.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! Hope it was an excellent one. I'm trying to think of a growing pun but I'm very tired, but maybe that was pun enough on its own? Oh dear, I don't know if I approve either way.
ReplyDeleteThe point is: And Many More!