Mint garden in a teacup

When I was at Lowe's the other day looking for plants for my mom for Mother's Day, I was delighted to find they also had a nice selection of mints. So that meant it was time to replant my oversized teacup planter with a little mint garden!

The plants are all from Bonnie Plants in neighboring Alabama, and they all looked nice and healthy. The first one to catch my eye was a variety I've never heard of before, Grapefruit Mint. When I crushed a leaf between my fingers I did indeed detect a rather citrusy scent.

The Sweet Mint, at left, smells so sweet you can practically taste the sugar, and of course Chocolate Mint, at right, is a necessary plant for obvious reasons if you're a chocolate lover.

The smallest of the plants was this Peppermint plant, and I was happy to find it.

Once planted with all four plants, I thought the combination of leaf shapes, colors and sizes was actually quite attractive!

And to add a little pizzazz, I popped in this plant stake that was a gift from tea friend Linda last year.

I often use mint in my iced tea during warm weather. Sometimes I use it to make a simple syrup (go here for easy instructions), and sometimes I just tuck a sprig directly into the glass for the subtle flavoring it gives. This year, it's dawned on me I could also experiment with using chopped mint leaves as an ingredient in foods such as salads and tea sandwiches. If you're a mint lover too, I'd love to hear which varieties you grow!