So, you’re probably going to think I’m ridiculous for not knowing mint when I see it, but you have to understand that I’ve only started gardening a couple years ago, and my mom never uses herbs for anything. So the most common herbs that everyone knows, I am only recently learning what looks like.
Anyway, so my little garden patch is FULL of tall weeds because we’ve been sick most of the month. And I’m looking at this big purple-green plant, and I say to my Dad, "I kind of like that one. It’s pretty."
"Jess, that’s mint."
"What? No it’s not."
"Here, see." Dad plucks of a big leaf off. He shreds it and rubs it. Sniffs it. Holds it out for me to sniff. I really do not like the smell. It didn’t smell anything like the mint flavors that I was familiar with. He seemed to think it smelled perfectly minty.
So I go look at my new potted peppermint. Well, there’s no doubt about it. Aside from color and size, they’re identical. I take a tiny leaf, shred and rub it, and it smells the same, but better, if that makes any sense?
And then it hits me! I wonder if that plant I guessed to be lemon balm because of its citrus-like smell was actually lemon mint! I go back over to it, and it indeed looks just like the peppermint and purple-colored mint. The short ones still have their yummy citrus smell, but the tall ones have the unappealing smell of the brown mint. Is it an age thing? A seasonal thing? Is my nose just being weird?
So I wondered if anyone could tell me what kind of mint is purple and grows so tall? For reference, I think that fence is somewhere around 4 feet tall.
For kicks, here’s my potted peppermint and the lemon-smelling mint:
And here’s the purple mint growing in a small patch by the dog pen:
Anyway, for the additional plants. I just found these by the dog pen, and they’re gorgeous, so I wondered what they are.
Also, there is the tall plant all over the area where we live. I found some that was drying up and pulled the seeds out to go in my to-be butterfly garden because the butterflies love this stuff. My mom had told me it was butterfly bush. So I decide to look up some info on the best way to grow butterfly bush, and…. Apparently, it’s NOT butterfly bush. So I was wondering what it was, so I can find info on it? I know I should have no problem growing it, I was just wondering if I can grow the our passionfruit up it so that I won’t have to trellis it… (There’s always sunflowers if that doesn’t work.) It’s more purple than it looks in the picture. It’s tall and strait with just a few leaves, and all the flowers on top. For the time being, I’m calling it "Butterflies Love It." ;P
I’d appreciate any help I can get! Thank you!
BTW, I live in TN, near Nashville.
