Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Dirt on my Hand, and Spreading Mountain Mint

I was a little confused how this mint got into the east of the house flower bed the other day, when I was looking to see what plants were coming up. Look at all those roots at the bottom of the pic!  It was awesome getting my hands in the dirt, pulling up some of the mint! 



Further inspection revealed it was my new Mountain Mint. (Click to see the other post on them.)



Next is a view from above, showing some of the old stems still upright with the old blooms on them.  Other stems had fallen down, and set down roots.  



See?


Look at all those roots, and the little stems and stems starting to form.  Oh, my!



Here's another pic from above, showing the spent flowers better.  There are still stems lying around setting roots or getting ready to.  I normally don't let spreaders stay around, but I may pull out the ones I don't want, and see if they stay pulled.  The stems didn't lie down like that when they were growing in the summer, so maybe it will behave again in the summer.  Time will tell.



The other one, Virginia Mountain Mint, has been in the same spot around 6 years, and has only spread from the base.


In my searching to learn more about the Short Toothed Mountain Mint, I found a site that said pregnant women should not consume this plant, but I've never tried eating it myself.  I decided not to include a link, because it's a business website I'm not familiar with.

(I just went outside to look again, because I was noticing the leaves of this year's mint looked different from the parent plant in the pics.  My original observation was correct, and it will not be allowed to travel far.)

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for the comment Deb.

    I accidently pushed something that caused this post to be published before it was finished. I'm not sure how far I"d gotten. Oops!

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  2. Hi Sue~~ Did the tag have a botanical name? Despite your great photos I don't know what this plant is.

    Your point, however, didn't elude me. Spring is almost here!

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  3. I bet that dirt felt great! Love the feel of it myself, not so much pulling plants though. Have fun with your gardening:)

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  4. A well-behaved mint?! Who'd a thunk it? I have heard that mints drawn a great many pollinators. I have been hankering after Mountain Mint (P. incana). That one spreads like mad but is very showy.

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  5. i love growing mint. to use as a garnish and put in recipes. thanks for the counter on your site. i had forgotten it is only a week and a day away with our cool and damp weather today.
    your dog looks like a sentinal on your wordless wednesday photo, very nice.

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  6. We just made a raised bed away from my flowers just for mints! Mine are crazy dirt hogs!!

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  7. I'm anxious to get my hands in the dirt, too!

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  8. Oh my goodness, I finally was able to leave a comment! I'm on another computer, which tells me it must be something with the way my computer is set up.
    I was going to say, I've never grown mint before, because I always heard it was a vigorous spreader. I need to find a contained place for some; your garden must smell wonderful!

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  9. Oh I too love that warm feel and the fresh smell of earth! Thank you for the interesting info, Sue.

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  10. Oh, and I'll bet the mint smelled just wonderful when you touched the leaves. I have to grow all my mints in pots else they spread like kudzu around here. ;-)
    Kris

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  11. I love mint and getting my hands dirty! Can't wait till mine comes up this year! Thanks for the photos, we are in 4b

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  12. Great entry today. I have a handful of those plastic tags that broke off during this winter. WHAT TO DO? I need to start labeling my photos of the flowers with the info from those tags??!!!

    LOVE YOUR BLOG... following you into spring and can't wait to see what you will write about.
    (HUGS)

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I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.