The easiest way to see
mints is at Garden Centres, Nurseries or Flower Shows. The problem is that
these will be very small plants in a 3˝"/9cm pot or a 1
litre pot if your are lucky. The plants will also be rather exuberant, and not
as good as "normal" growth. Or worse, brown, because they have dried
out. However it is still the easiest way to see mints and can
be useful to compare between different sources. Don't forget, if you have friends with
an interest in growing food, especially herbs, they may have some larger mints
they could show you.
If you have a Herb Farm
not too far away then this may be an improvement on Garden Centres, with maybe having 6-8
different mints, or if you are lucky 20 or more and the very best having over 30 or more forms.
It all depends on the preferences of the owner. There is a good chance that a
Herb Farm, unlike more general nurseries, will have some borders or display
beds showing the plants they sell, but there may not be any mints planted
amongst the better behaved thymes and rosemary.
You might think the
internet could be a good way to "see" different mint forms online,
but it isn't as good as you think. Many of the unusual forms illustrated by
nurseries are of very young plants or small pictures of distant mature
plants. That's if the plant is correctly named in the first place.
So are there any large
collections of living plants that you might be able to go to have a look at?
Yes, there are are some large living mint collections and, yes, there are some
that you can have a look at. At the moment the only large collections I know
of that you can have a look at are National Plant Collections® under the NCCPG/PlantHeritage
Scheme.
I do not know of any mint
collections that are open to the public on an unrestricted basis, so please do not turn up
to any of those listed below without first arranging a specific appointment or verifying a time
that the Collection will be viewable. The number of plants in each collection
will reflect the owner or collection holder's interest and no-one should expect any
collection to be completely comprehensive. Nor should you expect to walk away
with a purchased replica any plant you like the look of.
Please bare in mind
when wishing to visit a Collection of mints that it is a privilege and not a right to
look at other people's plants and you are gaining benefit from others' work in
searching out and maintaining
their living collection of difficult plants. Although sometimes part of or
connected to commercial enterprises, a National Plant Collection® usually
costs far more to set up and maintain that any financial benefit to the business.
The aims and work of
the NCCPG/PlantHeritage National Plant
Collections® is not to provide a display of living plants for the general
gardener to have a look at to pick out their favourite. Their work involves understanding, research, study and
documentation, as well as cultivation, and propagation of all or specific plants, all on a voluntary
basis, and at the Collection Holder's own expense. The NPC® is as much private property as a personal collection of
decorative plates, first editions books or match boxes. However you will probably find the grower
is so enthusiastic about their plants that they are very willing to talk about them to a real
enthusiast, answering questions and even giving helpful information you won't
find in any books. For the most recent information about any NPC®
go to the NCCPG/PlantHeritage
website or look it up in the latest "NPC® Directory" (book), or
for mint Collections go to the National Mentha Collections
page.
There may be mints to
see at other Herb Gardens, but the number is uncertain so I have listed these
on a Herb gardens page
There may or may not be plants available for sale at
the time of visit or at some time in the future or by mail order, possibly
propagated to order as time allows - enquire and be patient. There are not
that many mint maniacs around to supply a commercial enterprise without
predictable sales, and so mass propagation of all mint forms each year is not
reasonable.
Devon
A National Mentha
Collection. Peter Oldfield has been collecting mints for a long time and
propagating small quantities for sale locally for a little while and has built up an
impressive list. We are now able to view his plants at weekend and Bank
holiday opening
during the summer. The plants are "grown in containers in deep beds on a level 1/4 acre site".
There is limited car parking. For details of opening in 2011 contact Peter
Oldfield, at Penborn Goat Farm, Bounds Cross, HOLSWORTHY, Devon, EX22 6LH,
telephone
01288 381569, email penborngoats@toucansurf.com,
or visit the website at www.penborngoats.com/thenursery.htm.
For full details go to the entry on the National Mentha
Collections page
Kent
Another National Mentha
Collection. This Collection
was built by Rosemary Titterington, original owner of Iden Croft Herbs, one of the
foremost Herb Nurseries in Southeast England. The nursery is now under new ownership but the
Collection stayed at the nursery. The nursery is open during the growing
season and the mints are on general display in containers on gravel beds for
some of this time, so do not expect it to be viewable without first checking with the current
Collection Holder what the arrangements are this season. The most common mints are available for sale
so can be seen in the nursery but only in small pots most of the
time.
The nursery and display gardens are quite extensive (in Herb Farm terms), but
there is normally a charge to visit the gardens, so seeing the mints may not be free. For opening times and to check what mints are on view, contact Nursery
Manager Tracy Conners-Perry at Iden Croft Herbs, Frittenden Road, STAPLEHURST,
TN12 0DH, telephone 01580 891432, fax 01580 892416, email idencroft.herbs@yahoo.co.uk or
look on the website at www.uk-herbs.com
for nursery opening times - there is no specific information on the Collections.
For
full details go to the entry on the National Mentha
Collections page
Rutland
The Herb Nursery is a herb nursery that has
a very wide range of herbs and cottage garden plants for sale with a special open
weekend in June when their 5 acres of gardens are open to the public as well. They offer
a good range of 38 mints and say that all are on
display all season in the Nursery sales area in 10 litre pots,
along with many of the other herbs, including their thymes, in borders around
the sales area, The lavenders, rosemaries and origanums however can only be
seen during the open weekend. This would seem to be the largest
non-NPC place to see mints, although I have not been there myself yet.
For
full details go to the entry on the Sources page
Suffolk
Another Nursery, Old Hall Plants, in Suffolk,
had maybe the largest collection of mint plants up until 2005. Janet was
responsible for a number of new introductions to the UK and increased the availability
of unusual plants considerably during a fairly short time. Because of the
needs of the nursery and a change of emphasis, the collection of mints was
passed on in it's entirety to another owner, where it was no longer viewable.
It is now uncertain that it remains it tact. Old Hall Plants now has
only half a dozen of the most common mints available for sale and so viewing.
Gwynedd
This is the only National Mentha
Collection that is not in southern England, and probably the highest at
1100feet. It is not a commercial venture and is growing on a private site.
It is not generally open to the public, and viewing is only by arranging an appointment in advance. All
plants are grown in large containers at a separate site to the postal address.
All visitors will be have a personally conducted tour by the Collection
holder.
Due
to matters relating to the change of home address and a change in location of the
Collection, and a death in the family, the possibility of viewing of the plants in 2011 depends on a number of factors, so do not
expect an appointment at short notice.
For
full details go to the entry on the National Mentha
Collections page
West
Sussex
This is the newest National Mentha
Collection and little information has so far been printed by
NCCPG/PlantHeritage. It does not appear to be linked to commercial activity. Visiting to this Collection is apparently in July, by
appointment. Jean has an interest in plants grown from seed, unlike most
other mint collectors.
For
full details go to the entry on the National Mentha
Collections page
Yorkshire
Yorkshire lavender sells mostly lavender with a
range of other herbs and cottage garden plants. They also have an interest in
mints, with over 40 listed by the RHS Plant Finder, although there were only a fraction actually
on sale when I visited this year. They have developed a Mint Weekend each year, which may be of interest
to local enthusiasts, but nothing compelling yet. The small newly planted mint display area only has a small
collection at the moment and are too small in 2011 to be worth traveling
very far.
If you know of any other
collections of mints, which may be open to an occasional visitor, please let me know
at where2c @
mentha.info Thanks.