Are you one of those people who say, "I can't grow anything' I have a brown thumb"' Well, if you are, I’ve got the plant just for you. It's mint. There are so many wonderful reasons to grow mint. Well, first, it's very aromatic, tastes delicious, and it's easy, easy, easy to grow. And guess what' Bonnie plants produces so many varieties, you just can't believe it.

One of my personal favorites is apple mint. I like its fuzzy foliage. You see, it makes a nice addition to flower arrangements. And like other mints, apple mint releases its flavor by simply bruising stems and leaves. You can also toss these bruised leaves and stems into ice water for a quenching summer drink or steep them in hot water for tea. For those with a sweet tooth, there's this one, called "chocolate mint." just look at the dark stems. It's a striking plant. It also has a strong, minty aroma with a faint hint of chocolate. On the other hand, orange mint reminds me of candied orange peel, lending a sweet citrus taste with lavender tones. And as I said, mint is easy to grow. All you really need is full sun. They'll even take partial sun. You want well-drained soil. And you don't even have to really fertilize mint too much. In fact, fertilizing it causes it to grow too rapidly. So lay off the fertilization. And harvest it very often. Now, one downside to mint is that it can be a thug. I mean, if you plant it out in the garden, it's going to take over. It grows very rapidly. That's why I recommend that you plant mint in containers and place those containers near your kitchen or where you're going to use the mint. Also, I think it can be kind of fun to paint the containers the different colors of the types of mint. For instance, here, with the apple mint, I painted this pail red; the chocolate mint, brown; the orange mint, of course, orange; and over here, I have lemon balm, which is also a form of mint, in a yellow container.

It's just an idea. Give it a try.

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