The Aromatic Herb That Will Thrive In Your Container Garden

If you have a thriving container garden, no doubt you're growing a variety of herbs and other plants to add color and fragrance to the outdoor space. For a little more variety, you might be on the lookout for other gorgeous aromatic herbs to add to your collection. An outstanding variety that will delight you is orange mint (Mentha x piperita f. citrata 'Orange'). This citrus-fragranced plant is a hybrid of the peppermint species and is equally easy to grow in containers. As a side note, did you know that there's an easy trick to spot plants in the mint family? The answer is in the stems!

Orange mint has the same vibrant green foliage as other mint varieties, but the leaves are often tinged with red, which means it will add a bit of color variation to your container garden. When the leaves are crushed, they emit the most delightful citrus scent. In summer, you'll be equally enamored with the pink or light purple flowers that will appear on short spikes above the foliage. You can use the aromatic leaves in your culinary creations, where they'll add a refreshing orange flavor to things like fruit salads, fragrant teas, and cooling summer drinks. These plants grow as perennials in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 9, but you'll want to familiarize yourself with how to keep your mint plants happy and healthy during winter. 

Like all mint varieties, this hybrid grows aggressively by producing long runners that will root whenever they touch the soil. That's why you want to confine this plant to a nice pot (just familiarize yourself with the downside of growing mint in containers). A wide and shallow container works really well for this herb. This mint variety will thrive in full or partial sun but grows best in a location with at least a bit of shade. 

One thing your orange mint won't tolerate is drying out, so make sure you keep your pot well-watered during the warm growing season. To end up with a nice bushy plant, regular tip pruning is essential. Of course, this won't be a problem if you harvest the tips often. Once your mint has filled its container, it's time to divide and repot it. This can be done quite simply by taking the plant out of the pot and slicing it into quarters with a spade. As long as each section has plenty of roots and top growth, each one can go into a new pot. You might even want to slice off around two inches from the bottom of the root ball, so each plant fits neatly into its new pot and there's plenty of soil for the roots to grow into. This is the perfect way to revive your plants so they can continue to thrive in your container garden.