Description:

An extraordinary mint with bright green leaves and an interesting sweet pear fragrance; adds a fruity twist to desserts, cocktails and teas; best grown in containers to control spreading

Edible Qualities

Jessica's Sweet Pear Mint is a perennial herb that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. The fragrant pointy green leaves can be harvested at any time in the season. The leaves have a pleasant taste and a pleasant fragrance.

The leaves are most often used in the following ways:

• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking
• Baking
• Seasoning
• Tea

Features & Attributes

Jessica's Sweet Pear Mint features bold spikes of lavender flowers rising above the foliage in mid summer. Its fragrant pointy leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

This is an herbaceous perennial herb with a spreading, ground-hugging habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition. This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Spreading

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Jessica's Sweet Pear Mint is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Herb Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Jessica's Sweet Pear Mint will grow to be about 20 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated herb garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Jessica's Sweet Pear Mint is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.