One of the perks of working in the garden section of Home Depot is checking out the plants in stock there. I see the usual plants that produce colorful flowers and others that bear fruits and vegetables respectively, but on occasion I do see an unusual plant I find quite interesting, such as the chocolate mint plant.
Just as the name suggests, the leaves of the chocolate mint plant have a strong chocolaty minty scent. I don’t know if the scent was created was through science or through nature’s own design, but I found this unique plant irresistible and I just had to get it. As I was driving home with the plant in my car, the inside of my car began to smell like a candy store. It was a pleasant enough scent to make me want to keep the plant in my car.
After I got home, I moved my new plant to a larger pot and put it outside on my second floor balcony. The balcony faces south so it’s sunny there in the morning but shady for the rest of the day. This seems to be exactly what the plant needs to thrive. Here’s how it looks three weeks after I bought it.
I have found this plant very easy to grow and maintain. All it needs is to be watered frequently and left outside where it can get some sun and it will thrive with a huge harvest of scented leaves. Occasionally I’ll feed it with some Miracle-Gro plant food for some added nourishment. I can’t imagine plants just living on soil and water alone anyway.
Now that I have a nice bounty of chocolate mint leaves, I’m left to wonder what to do with them. This page has some suggestions, one of which is using it to flavor your water. I also found this page that has some growing tips as well as additional uses for the leaves, including making tea. There’s even a simple recipe to making your own essential oil, which I’m going to try as well.
It’s plants like this that make gardening so much fun. I can’t wait to see what other interesting plants will arrive at Home Depot.
MJBDiver.com 