no. I have mine in with my tropicals that get heavy watering every day. they are FINALLY happy... the right amount of sun with a ton of water.

I have some growing in my stream, and it's even more lush than the stuff in large "peat-ish" pots that gets watered every day. They're thirsty little suckers.

Brenda

I would be willing to water once a week but that doesn't sound like enough.

Now I don't know what to do with this area! It had some bearded iris I pulled out. I was going to plant iris and use the mint as a sort of bulb cover. Any ideas?

It makes sense that mint spreads like it does because it is shallow rooted. The only other area where it could go isn't enclosed on all sides. I can add edging though and that seems a better spot. I will be setting up soaker hoses for the area (again, once a week) and it is more shady with fruit trees and whatnot. I had some strawberry ground cover going already but it is sparse. I'll let them duke it out.

Thanks for the advice -- I would have had fried mint! I'll probably go with wildflowers and just mulch in the off season, once everything dies off. :)

CJ

I have mint that spreads hundreds of feet so I know it is not doing it by underground stems. I had it for years when the place was a rental and nothing got much water and it did not spread. Now that I live here and water everything the mint has become a real nuisance. Al

I planted mine under a birdbath. It gets extra water when the birds come by, and when I fill the baths. Works out great in my otherwise native and native-like garden.

I'd like to chime in regarding spearmint, peppermint, pineapple mint and corsican mint (the four mints I'm growing).

My spearmint, peppermint, and pineapple mint all get full sun and a deep watering (clay soil here) once every one to two weeks (except during the hundred degree stretches, where I water every 4-5 days or whenever the plants look wilty). They are all fine but would probably be more lush and invasive if I gave them more water. I did water more frequently when I first planted them (peppermint and spearmint from cuttings) but they've been growing a few years now and can handle the stress.

Corsican mint wants shade and waaaay more water, I don't recommend that for your area though it's a very nice groundcover for shady moist areas.

I think you could grow spearmint and peppermint in the spot you describe. You'll be surprised at how resiliant these mints are once they become established. Mint is inexpensive, try a couple plants. HTH

Melanie

I took cuttings of the plant I bought and am trying to root in the soil too. I think I will try planting it out alongside the driveway and see how it does. If it dies from lack of water, I'll plant new stuff in the area where I am putting in soaker hoses. I'll let folks know how it does.

Of course, I can't even do this until my Dutch Gardens order comes in, which may not be until December or something! I ordered some dutch iris bulbs because they would do well and manage to grow through the mint. (Generally I don't order from them but for something as simple as iris bulbs I think they'll be ok.)

CJ

I dunno. Mint can be xeric. With water it spreads more, which can be good or bad. Same with sun....more sun more spread. It depends what you want.

I have spearmint blooming now...bees love it. I don't ever water it specifically. Mint can be a nuisance.

Where my spearmint is, underneath there are scilla p. bulbs. They co-exist okay. I never thought about mint as a cover for bulbs until you brought it up...and here I have it already! Go figure.

macfairman--

I've had good luck with rooting mint cuttings in water, then transplanting when the weather cools and the cuttings have roots.

I would recommend that you wait until the weather cools down before you plant.