One of the garden goals Hannah and I have for over the winter season is to find a way for our mint plants to come back every year.

As easy as it would be to achieve this goal, we want to avoid the invasive nature of mint by planting it in the ground.

This year we went a bit mint crazy purchasing starter plants for several varieties of mint: berries and cream, spearmint, apple, orange and chocolate. All of which we fell in love with. Each providing a unique and different tea experience. The berries and cream was the only one where we couldn’t get the flavor to come out as strongly. It had a more subtle flavor.

Ideally, we find a way for our mint to survive winter to minimize our costs for next year by not having to repurchase.

Mint Saving Methods for Winter

Between the two of us, we tried three different methods! At least one ought to work!

Hannah buried her mint in its pot in the ground in her garden. Her garden is right in the ground rather than in raised garden beds. The surrounding soil and snow cover to come should hopefully provide enough insulation for the plant over the winter months.

My mint was planted in larger pots that would be hard to plant in the ground especially with my low raised garden beds. As such, I moved the pots into the garage where it will have some protection from the -40 degree Celsius weather.

And as a backup, I propagated by taking cuttings of each right above a leaf node. I took these cuttings closer to the end of summer before the mint started getting powdery mildew with the colder fall weather.

The great part about propagating indoors is that I should be able to keep having fresh mint tea all winter!

Sage Propagation

I did the same with my sage plant which I also love for tea. I re-potted the main plant in clean, fresh soil and a sterile pot to ensure no bugs came in with it.

I also took some sage cuttings as a backup as well.

These plants will be kept under a grow light inside to ensure they get enough light.

Lemon Balm Propagation

Both of us also love the lemon flavor that lemon balm brings to our homemade tea blends. I find this plant slower growing than the mint and as such my propagation attempt didn’t go well. The cuttings were likely too small.

However, I did plant my lemon balm directly in my garden beds this summer. While part of the mint family, it spreads through self-seeding rather than through its roots like its mint relatives. It should be easier to control through deadheading any flowers. I’m sure we will find out if this was a bad idea in years to come! 🤣 There were no flowers produced this year as the plant stayed small and it was being harvested throughout the summer for tea.

Conclusion

Stay tuned for updates in the coming spring on what plants survived the winter.

In the meantime, here’s to a steady supply of fresh tea all winter!

Grace and peace,

Jo

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What plants have you brought in for the winter?

Any mint saving tips?

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