Mint as a Perennial Border

"As for the garden of mint, the very smell of it alone recovers and refreshes our spirits, as the taste stirs up our appetite for meat," declared the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder almost two thousand years ago. Aristotle is claimed to have recommended peppermint as an aphrodisiac. Nothing much has changed, except for a plethora more offerings--enough to fill an entire border. And why not? Mints are an easy growing, versatile family, flourishing in light shade and moist soils. Located in the family of the Lamiaceae, they are cousins to basil, catnip, rosemary, sage, oregano and many other herbs, all distinguished by their square stems. Depending on the source, there are 13 to 18 species. However to the despair of botanists, nature being nature and ignoring taxonomical niceties, natural hybrids occur.