Mentha spicata (Spearmint)
Color Name: Spearmint
Spearmint has much the same properties as peppermint, but is milder. Spearmint is used to flavor teas, candies, and other products. The leaves give off the very distinctive scent when crushed. The plant is a vigorous grower and is cultivated worldwide. It can be easily grown by the home gardener if moist soil is provided.
A medicinal herb tea made from fresh or dried leaves has a very pleasant and refreshing taste, leaving the mouth and digestive system feeling clean. Also great for mint jelly, an old favorite.
Growing Tips: Harvesting When the plants are breaking into bloom, the stalks should be cut a few inches above the root, on a dry day, after the dew has disappeared, and before the hot sun has taken any oil from the leaves, and dried for culinary use for the winter. All discolored and insect-eaten leaves should be removed and the stems tied loosely into bunches and hung to dry on strings in the usual manner directed for "bunched" herbs. The bunches should be nearly equal in length and uniform in size to facilitate packing, if intended for sale, and placed when dry in airtight boxes to prevent re-absorption of moisture. The leaves may also be stripped from the stems as soon as thoroughly dry and rubbed through a fine sieve, so as to be freed from stalks as much as possible, or pounded in a mortar and thus powdered, stored in stopper bottles or tins rendered airtight. If preparing for market and not for home use, the rubbed herbs will, of course, command a higher price than the bunched herbs, and should be put up in tins or bottles containing a quantity of uniform weight. Use The dried leaves and flowering tops, collected before the flowers are fully developed. Spearmint is cultivated like peppermint for the production of oil. Mint Jelly
Spearmint has much the same properties as peppermint, but is milder. Spearmint is used to flavor teas, candies, and other products. The leaves give off the very distinctive scent when crushed. The plant is a vigorous grower and is cultivated worldwide. It can be easily grown by the home gardener if moist soil is provided.
A medicinal herb tea made from fresh or dried leaves has a very pleasant and refreshing taste, leaving the mouth and digestive system feeling clean. Also great for mint jelly, an old favorite.
Growing Tips: Harvesting When the plants are breaking into bloom, the stalks should be cut a few inches above the root, on a dry day, after the dew has disappeared, and before the hot sun has taken any oil from the leaves, and dried for culinary use for the winter. All discolored and insect-eaten leaves should be removed and the stems tied loosely into bunches and hung to dry on strings in the usual manner directed for "bunched" herbs. The bunches should be nearly equal in length and uniform in size to facilitate packing, if intended for sale, and placed when dry in airtight boxes to prevent re-absorption of moisture. The leaves may also be stripped from the stems as soon as thoroughly dry and rubbed through a fine sieve, so as to be freed from stalks as much as possible, or pounded in a mortar and thus powdered, stored in stopper bottles or tins rendered airtight. If preparing for market and not for home use, the rubbed herbs will, of course, command a higher price than the bunched herbs, and should be put up in tins or bottles containing a quantity of uniform weight. Use The dried leaves and flowering tops, collected before the flowers are fully developed. Spearmint is cultivated like peppermint for the production of oil. Mint Jelly
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Flower Color: Pink shades /
Foliage Color: Green shades
Height: 15 to 20 Inches / Spread: 15-20 Hardy in Zone: 4 |
Blooms: Summer
Foliage Season: |
Exposure
Full Sun
Partial Shade
Soil Moisture Needs |
Moderate
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Growth Rate |
Medium
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Characteristics |
• Specimen Plant • Mass Plant • Drought Tolerant |
Attracts
Butterflies
Hummingbirds
Critter Resistance
Deer
Rabbit
