Mint

This year the herb most used in my garden is mint. We have a lot of varieties at the store, chocolate mint, pineapple mint, etc... but the one I use the most is good ole fashion Spearmint "Kentucky Cornell."

My spearmint comes back every year and keeps getting bigger and stronger every year. I have it growing in my Roman garden out back and in the front garden as well. It looks lovely there and makes a nice ground cover. It's not a front and center plant. I let it creep up around my stepping stones. It softens the area up nicely partially concealing the stone steps that lead to the garden hose.

Mint will spread. So if this is problem you may not want to grow it. It hasn't been a problem for me so far. Later in the summer it will start to bloom. This is the tough part because you should pinch all the blossoms back. In most cases with herbs... never let them flower as this could alter the taste for the worse.

Mint can go into a lot of different dishes specially your middle eastern foods, Kabab, tea, etc... Lately, I can't help but add a fresh spring in my lemonade. I think I've perfected my lemonade recipe. Here it is:

You'll need: one large 12oz plastic patio glass, one lemon, 3-4 Splenda sugar substitute packets, Pellegrino sparkling water, ice, a big sprig of mint, and to make it easy, a lemon hand press. Squeeze lemon into glass, add the Splenda, pour in sparkling water, stir, add lots of ice and top it off with your big spring of mint. It's terrific!

Your mint technique.... a sprig for me is a piece about three inches tall. I submerge a tiny part of the stem in the ice so the mint looks like a green flower blossom popping out over of the ice. The scent of the mint adds a summer freshness I think you'll really enjoy. In a future post, I'll include my recipe for Iced Lemon Ginger Granita with fresh mint chiffade (another technique which you roll a mint leaf up and cut it to give you little slivers.)

Re-potting Plants

Hello,
I promised a customer over the weekend to discuss this subject.

Here are the basics:
First off, particularly with my plants, plants are tough, don't worry about hurting or killing them. Over the years, I've dug up, moved around, six, seven times until I got it right. They all lived...

Second, and I borrow this from my yoga class.... aim to practice not to be perfect. Gardening is supposed to be enjoyable. Practice, experiment and learn from what you did. Your space is unique, so what might not work for someone else with almost similar conditions may work for you.

In general, particularly if the plant has outgrown its present container, move up a pot size, a couple of inches is fine. Don't feel like you have to "massage" the roots. Scoring the roots is usually done with annuals when they are root bound. This helps the roots spread out more quickly.

Drainage is key. Water should drain from the bottom of any container. Use broken "shards" pottery pieces, rocks, gravel, etc... I usually place an inch or more inside the bottom of the container. Good drainage prevents the roots from setting in water.

Start filling with soil until you think the top of what you are re-potting will reach the desired top of the new container. I leave about an inch down from the very top. Fill the sides with soil. Don't pack down.

Water. Always. Your plant might settle in and drop a bit. Get in there... add more soil. Make it do what you want it to do.

Ok. Your plant might get drooping after re-potting. It's probably in shock. This is NOT the time you'd want to place it in full sun. Let it rest in a "peaceful" location. Let it acclimate a few days.

More things to consider, I like using a a well drained soil. You can mix in perlite to lighten the soil. Perlite is the stuff that looks like big white flakes in potting mix. If your soil is too dense, the roots have a more difficult time moving around and your plants won't grow as well. We carry perlite at the store. If by chance you are re-using a container and the previous plant in the pot didn't do so well, you might want to clean out the container with a hose and scrub it with a extremely light solution (couple of tablespoons to a gallon) of Clorox to water. This will sterilize the container.

Back in the days before I owned a garden center, I loved (had the time for) playing around with pots. I could "cluster" 'em for hours until I got it juuuust right. So a few tips if you have a lot of pots: high to low. Big pots towards the back smaller ones to the front and odd number arrangements always works best.

Every week we receive one to two shipments of new pottery. If you need new containers or looking for something different, chances are we have them.

Happy Gardening!