Spearmint
Mentha spicata
- Sun
- Full Sun, Part Shade
- Mature size
- 1–2 ft tall, spreading indefinitely by rhizomes
Gallon — $10
About this size
- Gallon
- Our standard size: a 1-gallon nursery pot, about 6–7 inches across.
Pay at the nursery, plus 6.75% sales tax. Send your request and we'll confirm availability and your pickup time within 24 hours, then hold your plants. How it works
Planting & care
- Growth habit
- Upright, spreading, rhizomatous herbaceous perennial
- Soil
- Adaptable; tolerates a wide range of soils, performs best with good moisture retention
Where to plant
Full sun to part shade, in soil that retains moisture well.
Watering
Moderate to high — prefers consistently moist soil.
Pruning
Cut back hard periodically through the growing season to keep growth fresh and prevent flowering, which can make leaves bitter.
Important note
Spreads aggressively by underground rhizomes — strongly recommend containers or a contained bed to prevent it from taking over a garden.
About Spearmint
Few herbs are as instantly recognizable, or as useful in the kitchen, as Spearmint. That bright, sweet, unmistakable scent means fresh mojitos, iced tea, and a dozen other summer drinks and dishes, all from a plant that grows itself once it's in the ground.
Spearmint is about as easy as herbs get: give it decent sun and consistent moisture, and it takes off. The one thing worth knowing going in: this plant spreads fast, by underground runners. In a container or contained bed it's a dream herb. Turned loose in an open garden, it will happily take over.
For anyone building a kitchen herb garden, or just looking for the easiest, most useful mint around, Spearmint is a natural fit, as long as it's given the right boundaries.