What's the deal with this mint?

[thistlebloom]

A friend gave me a small orange mint plant last summer which I planted in a container. I didn't want to lose it over the winter so I brought it in and put in my kitchen windowsill. I trimmed off all the dead stubs, ( dead, because it went through a few freezes before I remembered it. Oops! ). So there's not a whole lot of leaves, but there's no new growth and it seems like it's just slowly declining.

I don't know, I figured it would grow a little bit indoors. I mean, it's mint right? It looks terrible and sad.
Yesterday I put it in an inconvenient but brighter window to see if that would cheer it up.

Do you think it was affected by the freeze?

 

[Southern Gardener]

How many times did it freeze thistle? Mine that are potted froze one time before I put them in the greenhouse and they seem to be doing fine.

 

[thistlebloom]

Hmmm..., I don't actually know! It still had green leaves down low, close to the container, so I don't think anything too severe.
It wouldn't be too big of a deal, except it was a gift, and it has the most terrific aroma.
I wonder if I should try to root a few sprigs in water. The shoots are short, only about an inch and a half.
Poor ugly thing...

 

[journey11]

Don't ask me...I end up killing every plant I bring inside!

 

[seedcorn]

I can relate to that

 

[RustyDHart]

I raise several varieties of Mint and all but one is growing outside...year round. My Orange Mint does very well outside and survives our very cold Northern Michigan Winters without any trouble. It spreads like most Mints and is thriving like crazy. Keep us posted!!!

 

[thistlebloom]

I raise several varieties of Mint and all but one is growing outside...year round. My Orange Mint does very well outside and survives our very cold Northern Michigan Winters without any trouble. It spreads like most Mints and is thriving like crazy. Keep us posted!!!

That's good to know Rusty, thanks!
I have different varieties of mint in the ground also, but I've never had orange before and didn't want to risk it. My chocolate doesn't seem to be as hardy.

 

[897tgigvib]

Thistle, up in Dillon Montana, barely so called zone 4, at the nursery we had 2 kinds of Orange Mint. One variety was called Orange Balsam Mint, and the other just called Orange mint. Both of those and the 2 kinds of chocolate mint look very much alike, and are probably all varieties of the same species. In fact they get mixed up by label remover elves. Those all got like 95% survival every winter. They are very typical die back perennials that we cut back to 1 or 2 inch nubs in October. Die back perennials of the woody type. Another type of die back perennial are the non woody types such as Penstemon.

Yes, go ahead and try some cuttings! Try some in warm propagation mix and some in water. I always preferred to propagate things several different ways.

Go ahead and cut it back to 1 or 2 inch nubs, take some cuttings, heck maybe everything you cut off, and try a bunch of different propagation methods. Leave the plant outside where it'll get good drainage and light, and try not to worry. A good nursery in your area should have them if it doesn't make it, and no cuttings take. If that happens, might want to do an autopsy. The soil might have ants or some ugly creepy bug.

Course if ya do go to a good nursery to replace it, careful! Nurseries and gardeners....like kids in a candy store!!! yep!

oooooooooooooooooooo they have marionberry????????????????????????????????

 

[thistlebloom]

Ha! I know exactly what you mean about stepping into a nursery Marshall! There's no way I can ever stick to a list! If I have to get plants for a customer, then fer shur there'll be a few extra plants riding home with me!

The problem with taking cuttings from this particular mint is that I've cut it down to little stubs already, anticipating a quick regrowth. But it's sulking, and not cooperating.

I'm glad to hear that orange mint is so hardy, I'll be keeping an eye out for more next spring and add it to my mint bed. It smells so agreeable, I wish I had dried some for winter tea.

 

[897tgigvib]

Just let it sulk all winter. In Dillon they did not show life until late May or so. I was annually amazed there at how long the plants could remain dormant, well over half the year. That's what zone 4 plants are all about though. We always had some experimental zone 5 plants. White Pine was one evergreen that was a successful zone 5 plant that made it with good care. Overhead biweekly watering lightly on good sunny days through winter was the trick for them, same thing for Arborvitae. Some of the Thymes were better suited for zone 5, but we did a survival of the fittest for those. Lavender we got low percentages of survival from with younger plants, with better percentages as the survivors aged. Same with Rosemary. But the Mints, most are easy zone 4 plants that can take a long dormancy.