Some of the many types are listed here:
APPLEMINT. Soft, woolly, downy leaves, with a rounded shape, and a strong apple taste and perfume.
VARIEGATED APPLEMINT. Creamy yellow and light-green patched leaf, a very handsome plant. Not quite as much flavour as above. Will grow in open sunlight better than most.
EAU-DE-COLOGNE MINT. A most exotic perfume when crushed, as its name implies. This is a favourite for a perfumed bath. Dry the mint leaves and store in an airtight jar, or use a handful of the fresh leaves, well-bruised, in hot bath water.
SPEARMINT (Mentha spicata). Smoother sharp-pointed leaves, the best all-purpose flavouring mint. Used by the Romans and taken by them to Britain. Grown in monastery gardens. This variety can be affected badly by a type of rust disease which starts in the roots. The stems and leaves will discolour and the roots when lifted will be pulpy and rotten. Lift the whole mint patch and burn it, dig lime or dolomite well into the soil, and leave it for a season. Do not plant mint there again. A good soil, well fed and well limed in the first place, has less chance of incubating this destructive disease.
Spearmint planted near roses and other plants will deter aphis.
*114\181\8*
