Presented by
The Webster Groves Herb Society
at Missouri Botanical Garden
June 11, 2016
Mints (Mentha) are tasty in foods, useful in dried arrangements, and pretty in your garden.
Both the leaves and the dainty little mint flowers are edible. Sweet spearmints (M. spicata) and pungent peppermints (M. x piperita) add zest and flavor to teas, beverages, and salads.
Peppermint or spearmint tea may relieve headaches.
Mint flowers keep their color in dried wreaths, tussie mussies, and arrangements. Dried mint leaves in your vacuum cleaner bag make vacuuming a fragrant minty experience.
Sweet mint flowers attract hummingbirds, pollinating bees, and butterflies to your garden.
Mints like to take over their space so plant mints in large containers or in a separate area of the garden where they can roam free.
The square stem is the identifying characteristic for mints.