I know mint grows fine in the ground in central FL and the 'soil' is all sand with way too good drainage. I wouldn't put potting soil in the ground, I think doing that right around a plant tends to cause more problems than it solves, I would instead amend a larger area of soil by mixing in compost. You do have to water mint it likes water. You might give it a few days to see if it perks up, if not maybe move it to an area that gets more water like near a gutter outlet or under an eve (not standing water but more water-you kinda have to work to drown mint though it's possible, my mom's done it). You might mulch too to help retain water. My mint is all munched on too. I've seen cabbage loopers (I believe-light green caterpillars that make a loop when they move) on them and the basil next to it, you could take care of this with Bt (Dipel). I mostly blame crickets at night for the mint, but they were also eating the leaf heads right off my garden seedlings. That made me mad. So, I went on a murderous cricket rampage, placing glasses filled with a mix of molasses, lemon, vanilla and water all about my garden. The crickets happily dove right into the glasses and drowned. This seems to have helps my seedlings, I'm not sure about the mint yet. Oh, holes in just the center of plant's leaves often suggests snails and slugs, look at night with a flashlight for them.

That's a nymphal grasshopper or katydid or something in that family. I read about your recipe....be careful that it doesn't burn the plant tissues, especially when the sun gets on them. Look for tiny aphids clustered (and not moving) on the new stems and leaves. They may be green, yellow, brown, pink, etc.

A temporary "problem." I always marvel at the perfection of the holes! They're solitary native bees which don't bother people.

Okay. Well even if it isn't killing my plants it is wrecking my flowerbed. Aesthetics are important to me and since those are almost the only thing I have blooming right now in the bed I don't want this bee cutting up my flowers every time they get a bloom open. What do these things look like anyway? Do they kind of look like a moth but with the colors of a bee? I saw one of those earlier today hanging around my bed but I didn't catch it eating anything. So can I gat rid of them? And how? Thanks for all the help. Different subject, how do you put an image in a response I didn't see anything where I could upload in a response that's why I reposted.