Belonging to the genus Mentha, mint herbs are made up of 25 different species. Examples of common mint plants are spearmint, peppermint, apple mint, lemon balm mint, and lavender mint.
Most of them you are probably already familiar with or have heard of as flavoring for certain products, like cakes, candies, and mouthwash.
And in today’s list, we’ll explore some of the most popular mint plants that can be grown indoors or in gardens. You’ll find out how to care for them and their uses too.
1) Spearmint
One of the most well-known and fragrant types of mint, spearmint (Mentha spicata) has lively saw-like edges, a pleasant aroma, and a dark, sturdy stem.
- Spearmint Uses
Spearmint is prized for its foliage and essential oil for cosmetic, medicinal, and culinary purposes.
It has been proven to act as an antioxidant to reduce signs of aging like wrinkles and spots on the skin. Along with this, it helps to reduce skin swelling and bruises in individuals.
Most of all, people love spearmint to enhance the flavor and scent of traditional and modern Asian dishes and healthy salads.
- Growing Spearmint
And on top of that, it’s not hard to take care of spearmint. Just remember to set it under full or partial sun, use fertile and moist soil for it, and water it regularly as needed.
2) Peppermint
Peppermint (Mentha piperita) is a very fragrant herb that is a cross between spearmint and water mint, giving it its trademark cool flavor and aroma.
- Peppermint Uses
Originally from Europe, it has been widely used for many products like toothpaste, mouthwash, candies, soaps, makeups, and face wash.
One can use either fresh or dried peppermint to brew delicious tea in the morning and afternoon.
As for its health benefits, Healthline explains that peppermint can alleviate headaches, indigestion, menstrual cramps, allergies, and bad breath.
- Growing Peppermint
Like most mints, growing it is super easy. You can grow them at your house from seeds or as a young plant by getting one from a nursery or florist.
Also, you have to put them in full sun at best. While they can tolerate shadowy areas and still grow, they will grow slower and have diminished flavor when harvested.
3) Catmint
Named after the Ancient Roman city of Nepete, catmint (Nepeta mussinii) is an aromatic herb with pretty lavender flowers and gray-green serrated leaves.
In Nepete (now Nepi), the herb had been used as a tea flavoring and an effective and safe bug repellent. Insects they can repel are aphids, mosquitoes, cabbage loopers, and more.
- Catmint Uses
Some of its notable medicinal uses are enabling the individual to produce more sweat to aid with fever and indigestion.
Catmint, unlike other mint varieties, has a gentle effect and great flavor, so it’s suitable for dealing with cold, flu, and fever in children.
- Growing Catmint
The delicate mint herb can be grown under full or shaded sun. One great advantage it has is it can endure heat and drought for a certain period, so they won’t get harmed that quickly.
Even though it can resist a range of pesky insects, catmint can be infested by thrips. In case that happens, you can use or spray neem oil or insecticidal soap on the affected areas.
4) Apple Mint
Apple mint (Mentha suaveolens) is named after its sweet apple flavor. It’s sometimes called woolly mint.
- Apple Mint Uses
Given its delicate, fresh flavor and aroma, it’s not surprising that it’s used on a large variety of food.
Apple mint is used to make sauces for lamb, poultry, and seafood. Also, its leaves can be added to tea, cocktails, and mocktails as well as sorbets, ice creams, and popsicles for that extra flavor.
You can make tea using the leaves of the apple mint. This has plenty of health benefits including treating headaches, fever, and indigestion.
- Growing Apple Mint
As a plant, it usually grows really fast and can take over an empty patch in the garden. In fact in some regions, it’s actually considered an invasive weed.
Plus, to keep your apple mint growing healthy and flavorsome, plant them in rich, moist, and well-draining soil and water them regularly. Increase your watering frequency if the climate has become dry.
5) Lavender Mint
Lavender mint (Mentha piperita) is characterized by its small cluster of wonderful purple flowers and lightly serrated leaves.
- Lavender Mint Uses
In terms of uses, the lavender mint has a ton: it can be used to reduce or combat pain, swelling, inflammation, and spasms. When used as an essential oil, it can also promote restful sleep for people.
Other than that, its flower and leaves can neutralize unpleasant odors and repel a bevy of insects in your room or house with its strong but lovely scent.
- How do you make lavender bug spray?
You can even make a simple homemade bug repellent with lavender mint.
For this, prepare one cup of boiling water in a receptacle. Steep lavender, basil, and fresh mint leaves in it.
Strain the liquid into another container. Add witch hazel, and then shake or mix it.
- Growing Lavender Mint
Now, here are some growing and care tips for the lavender mint:
Lavender mint prefers full sun and an environment with a mild to moderate temperature. With that said, move it to a partially shaded area if the weather is punishingly hot.
Furthermore, it thrives in evenly moist soil. You can also add mulch on top of the soil to prevent it from quickly drying out.
Pinch new buds or cut parts of the plant to keep it flavorful and aromatic throughout the season.
6) Basil Mint
The Basil mint (Mentha piperita f. citrata) is a perennial herb known for its somewhat sweet and spicy aroma. The scent is unique, and some people describe it as being lemony or tarragon-like.
Viewed from another angle, you can observe that this mint’s fresh, dewy foliage is shaped like a heart, rather than a spear, with a yellow tint in some areas.
- Basil Mint Uses
The basil mint perfectly complements a bevy of meals in color, taste, and fragrance that you and your family can definitely enjoy!
Some of the mouthwatering recipes you can make are the famous tomato and basil soup, lemon basil chicken, green bean and tuna salad with basil, basil lentil pizza, seared scallops with basil risotto, and many more.
Besides that, basil mint is great and extremely easy to grow in the garden. They produce a lot of leaves and flowers for you to use and are resistant to diseases, which is why they’re highly preferred by gardeners and gastronomes alike.
- Growing Basil Mint
Basil mint plants enjoy partial to full sunlight and various soils so long as they’re organic and well-drained. They’re not finicky and only require normal watering.
7) Cuban Mint
Would you want to enjoy mojitos with friends in your own home? Then, you absolutely need to have a stock of Cuban mint (Mentha x villosa).
It sports a thicker, textured surface as opposed to other species in the mint family. It can have some resemblance to the Irish cloverleaf with its bright green color and round leaf shape.
- Cuban Mint Uses
So this amazing hybrid plant is much-liked for its incredible minty scent and flavor that will relax burdened minds and ease the tension you may be feeling.
And aside from the refreshing mojito people so enjoy, the mint’s leaves can be dried and ground for meat and poultry dishes, and hot, tasty stews and soups.
- Growing Cuban Mint
The ideal USDA conditions for the perennial herb are zones 5 to 9, which have moderately warm and cool climates. It wants full to partial sunlight and mildly acidic to mildly basic soil.
At maturity, it can grow 12 to 18 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide. It also develops white fragrant flowers that can attract beautiful pollinators, especially bees.
8) Chocolate Mint
Aptly named, chocolate mint (Mentha x piperita f. Citrata ‘Chocolate’) has a strong, crunchy mint taste with sweet chocolate undertones, making it perfect for many different dishes and desserts.
The herb has medium to dark-green tear-shaped leaves. Each leaf is marked by a branching pattern with a rough texture and supported by brown, woody stems and branches.
- Chocolate Mint Uses
You can incorporate this herb in both hot and cold beverages, for instance, as dried and crushed flakes for a cool vanilla milkshake or a strawberry cocktail and as fresh sprigs in different kinds of hot chocolate.
The sweetness of chocolate mint doesn’t stop there. It can be used to garnish cakes, puddings, cookies, and brownies for an exciting and irresistible minty taste.
- Growing Chocolate Mint
For the best color and flavor, this dark green herb has to be grown under full to partial sun and in damp areas like near small ponds and fountains. What’s more, it’s not very choosy in terms of soil, and most types can handily work for it.
9) Lemon Balm Mint
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is a beautiful yellow-green herb belonging to the mint family. As it grows, it will bear flowers that attract wonderful pollinators to help plants reproduce and yield new seeds and fruit in the garden.
- Lemon Balm Mint Uses
As you might have guessed, it has a delightful mild lemon aroma. So this is the reason it’s been a favorite in flavoring foods and drinks like salads, soups, and sweet treats.
Lemon balm mint is a pretty reliable plant in terms of medicinal use too. Like lavender, it contains chemicals that provide a calming and sleep-triggering effect.
While more study and evidence are needed, people suffering from anxiety, depression, cold sores, insomnia, dementia, and other conditions have used lemon balm over the years to somehow manage or treat them.
- Growing Lemon Balm
Lemon balm is also very easy to grow for all gardening skill levels. Put them in a spot with full or partial sun.
Plant them in moist and well-draining soil, and water them deeply in the pot until the soil is moist.
10) Orange Mint
The hybrid orange mint (Mentha piperita citrata) smells of pleasant citrus glory and is well-suited for a wide assortment of drinks, meals, and desserts.
- Orange Mint Uses
There’s just so much you can use this aromatic orange mint herb for—cocktails, iced teas, salads, stews, sauces, jellies, fruit, ice cream, pies, and cakes.
But it’s particularly delicious with fruit salads and refreshing summer beverages because it gives a great strong citrus flavor. Talk about making your hearty lunch or dinner more savory!
- Growing Orange Mint
Orange mint likes soil that’s clay-like, rich, and well-draining. It can be given either full or partial sunlight every day, so determining where to plant it should be easy.
And like most mint plants, orange mints get thirsty throughout the day. So giving them a drink once or twice daily is recommended.
11) Curly Mint
Are you looking for an easy mint to grow and flavor your specially made dishes? Well, then, the curly mint (‘Crispa’ Menta Spicata) is perfect for you.
True to its name, the plant grows curly leaves that are tightly packed against each other and stand on long, straight dark-green stalks. They’re easier to identify as opposed to other kinds of mints.
- Curly Mint Uses
The one-of-a-kind frilly herb has a sweet taste and a minty and slightly fruity spearmint scent. Because of this, it has been commonly used to make perfumes, potpourris, and garnishes.
Besides its perfumery and culinary applications, curly mint has several medicinal benefits, including treating headaches, the common cold, and chapped or cold-sensitive hands.
- Growing Curly Mint
Our advice when caring for it is to place it in a partially shaded area. Noon or afternoon sun can be too hot for it, which will in turn damage the mint leaves.
Moreover, curly mint needs organic and healthy soil with great drainage. It needs to be watered frequently and can be fed with a slow-release fertilizer in spring to allow it to grow healthily.
