I don’t need to convince you that mint is a special plant in cultures all over the world — you’ve likely tried a dozen different dishes from as many cultures which use this powerful garden herb. From Moroccan teas and Indian chutneys and salads, to Southern mint juleps and Cuban mojitos, mint shows up again and again.

But did you know mint was also used in ancient Greek funerary rites along with other fragrant herbs like rosemary and myrtle? It’s still used for similar purposes today it would seem, as the tradition of ritual lament by professional mourners (moirologists) continues in Mani, Greece. As if all that wasn’t enough, our humble garden mint has a saucy origin story involving your girl’s number one right-hand goddess, Persephone.

According to the myth, Minthe was a Naiad nymph who presided over the River Cocytus in the Underworld. She tried to seduce Hades and/or Hades became smitten with her. Minthe began to think herself superior to Persephone, Queen of the Underworld and wife to Hades. Once Persephone caught wind of the flirtation, either by Minthe’s own tongue or another’s, she turned the nymph into the garden herb we know as mint today.

Mint was also an important hallucinatory ingredient in the ancient Greek drink kykeon, which participants in the Eleusinian Mysteries drank at the height of the experience. I’ll be diving into this trippy ancient ritual in the next post, which you’ll definitely want to check out. But for now, let’s explore how you can care for a small mint plant in the 21st century.

Getting Started with Mint

Mint is a really great homegrown herb because there are so many varieties to try, and you can add it to everything from cocktails and fruit salad to marinades and tea. You can sooth an upset stomach with mint, just as you can relieve the acute pain of a bee sting. True story, my babysitter carried me into the house and put toothpaste on a bee sting I got on the back of my thigh after sitting on a bee resting on our tree swing. Nowadays, I welcome the little bees when they come to visit, and mint is one of my go-to herbs for my home container garden.

Be warned, however, that mint will go rogue if you let it! If you don’t have a well-contained and well-tended garden space, I’d urge you to grow your mint in a container. Mint spreads horizontally, and will send out “runners,” which are side shoots or stems that take root as the plant spreads outwards. It’s wild to see the runners start crawling around the sides of your container like alien plant tentacles.

Specialty Mints: Apple and Mojito

Last year, I fell in love with mojito mint, which is a Cuban variety that’s been bred to smell just like a mojito — lime, sugar, mint, and all! It’s pretty delicious, and it’s a fun Wonka-like addition to a home herbal garden. There are lots of recipes for mojito marinade online, but you could customize your own mix for any grilled meat or fish entree with some citrus, garlic, herbs, and this particular mint.

I also grew apple mint last year, which is a fuzzy mint with soft, felt-like leaves. Apple mint grows quite tall, so your container will have some height once the season gets underway. I wasn’t as keen on putting the apple mint into fresh recipes, but I did use it to make an apple cider vinegar-based facial toner for my acne-prone skin. My partner says it makes my face smell like feet though, so mix at your own risk.

Speciality Mints: Orange and Chocolate

This year, I opted for a lush orange mint plant at the garden center in lieu of others I’ve tried in seasons past. Orange mint is exactly what it sounds like — a lovely mint with a punchy citrus scent. I let it get a little out of control in the pot, so the other day I cut a bunch of the longer stems and stored the trimmed pieces in a Tupperware container. They’re still looking good in the fridge, so the plan is to make an orange mint-infused vinegar.

I’m 90% sure the second mint I’m growing this year is chocolate mint. However, if you have any thoughts to the contrary based on this photo, please let me know! This mint has a gorgeous deep green color and chocolate brown stems, apropos of the name. My neighbor dug up a section from her friend’s garden and gifted it to me, which is what I have in this little pot. It doesn’t look like much, but this particular guy is super potent. A little will stretch far enough for my purposes, and because of how strong it is, I think I’ll dry whatever’s left for tea near the end of the season.

Pollinator-Friendly: Mountain Mint

Chocolate mint’s not the only thing my neighbor dug up and brought back home for us to share. She also gifted me a hunk of grassy dirt with some greenery and dead stalks, which looked vaguely like something I should try to keep alive. It was mountain mint! Mountain mints are native to North America, and the short-toothed or blunt mountain mint that I have is native to Eastern North America. Once the summer really got underway, the mountain mint blossomed. The plant now has silvery white leaves that look almost frosted, which give off a cool fairy vibe along with its tiny lavender flowers. Needless to say, I am into it.

Mountain mints are excellent for attracting pollinators, especially bees. I recently stopped into the NJ-NY Trail Conference office to check out some maps, and it was awesome to find the whole front of the building planted with mountain mint and literally buzzing with pollinator activity. Mountain mint is often featured on lists of best pollinator-friendly plants, and it was awarded Plant of the Year in 2018 by my own former employer! It’s also deer-resistant, which makes it a great choice for suburban gardens.

How Do You Like to Enjoy Mint?

I’m trying to take advantage of the abundant fresh mint I have at this moment, because really, now’s the time to let it marry with all the heightened flavors of ripe peaches, strawberries, and watermelon. As I mentioned earlier, one way I’m hoping to keep the freshness of summer alive is by making an orange mint-infused vinegar to drizzle on salads.

Even if you prefer to simply let your mint grow for the visual pleasure of it in your garden, try thinking about Minthe and the water nymphs and all the ways that people before you have treasured and made use of this special plant. How do you like to prepare mint? Let me know!