If you're ever going to grow anything like spearmint or peppermint, do yourself a favour and grow it in a pot. The word "invasive" is a little bit on the light side for some mints. I have heard it said "the only two things that could survive worldwide nuclear war are cockroaches and mint".

About 6 or so years ago I got a small spearmint plant when I started container gardening, and on my Mother's suggestion in the fall I transplanted it to one of the flower beds right next to the deck. The next spring it grew well and I was delighted, since I like mint teas, except it did more than merely "grow well". It sent out roots and shoots all around itself, spreading quite fast. So I transplanted it from the flower bed to the eastern side of the house, but it had sent roots underneath the deck where we couldn't dig them up and it was 2 or 3 years until we stopped finding spearmint shoots to pull up. And on the side of the house, well, I can no longer tell where I originally transplanted it to because it has almost taken over that flower bed. Good thing the chrysanthemums and the lamb's ear (another member of the mint family) are hardy plants.

Anyways, what got me on to this was that today was harvest time for some of my herbs. I cut off large amounts of bergamot, spearmint and fennel, as well as a little bit of rosemary. The only reason I didn't harvest my peppermint, catnip and lemon balm was because I ran out of space on the dining room table for drying them out. :-) As you can tell, what I grow in my containers are mostly plants of the mint family — catnip, lemon balm, peppermint, orange mint bergamot, spearmint, pineapple mint, grapefruit mint, greek oregano, english lavender and persian catmint. But I also have cherry tomatoes, cubanelle, hungarian wax, purple bell and hot cherry peppers, ginger, chives, onion, garlic, fennel, chamomile, bloody sorrel and a licorice plant.

Some day I would love to have big garden instead of just containers out on the deck and the occasional plant in my Mother's flower beds.

Got some more plants (again) today. Some Hungarian wax hot peppers and a nice tall foxglove to put beside the butterfly bush to help attract even more butterflys. But what I'm really hoping (almost against hope) is that some hummingbirds will show up. When I was children's camp counsellor for my summer job as a teenager, I remember seeing the hummingbirds feed on the flowers of the the taller plants. But I have never seen them here in the city. :-(

Well, today (Saturday) I got some more plants for my container gardening.

In the vegetable category I got jalapeño peppers, hot cherry peppers and one purple bell (sweet) pepper. Hopefully the hot cherry peppers wont look too much like the cherry tomatoes I got a few weeks earlier! :-) Last summer the peppers I grew almost produced more than I could use, and I just noticed on the tag that the hot cherry peppers are "heavy producers"!

In the herbs and spices category I got Virginia mint, German chamomile, bloody sorrel, ginger, licorice, bergamot and orange mint (a peppermint cultivar). These will go along with the peppermint, catnip, and fennel I got a few weeks ago. Bergamot and bee balm are both Monarda spp., but last summer when I tried adding a few bee balm leaves to my home-grown teas for an Earl Grey-like taste it wasn't overly yummy. The Virginia mint is described as being "well behaved", so I guess that means it won't take over like spearmint or peppermint. Perhaps I will be able to put it in a flowerbed for next year.

To go int the new flower bed around the bird feeder pole I got some marjoram, creeping oregano and some french thyme. Depending on how well they grow (getting trampled on by the mourning doves and other birds chasing fallen birdseed) I might harvest these for spices later on.

And the bee balm which got planted from its pot to a flower bed last fall is doing wonderfully, but the butterfly bush which also got planted out did not survive the winter. :-( But I got another one a few weeks ago, and hopefully it will survive the winter better if it is in the flowerbed all summer.

Since my Mother swears by what banana skins have done for her ferns, I've deced to try them for my container gardening this year. Bananas have high levels of phosporus and potassium and along with nitrogen are the three elements most rapidly removed from soil.

If I remember my biology from high school and my zoology & botany from university, phosphorus is essential for both photosynthesis in plants and cellular respiration in animals. Unfortunately I can't remember what the potassium is needed for.

In years past I've always used Miracle Gro (that blue, crystalline fertlizer) on my plants and they have done nicely. So this summer I shall see if the banana skins make my container gardened plants any healthier. I have the biggest hopes for the tomatoes and peppers. Come winter when I bring my orange tree inside I'm going to give it banana skins, too, and maybe it will stay healthier all winter.

While I've never had bad luck with the tomatoes and peppers, they've always been under–performers for me, especially the tomatoes. My herbs have always done well with mild neglect, getting nice and bushy, so I guess a combination of that and not being as experienced a gardener as my Mother has not let my tomatoes and peppers grow to their potential.

Last Saturday at the farmers' market, in addition to some catnip and lemon balm, I picked up two little cherry tomato plants with flower buds already on them. (Not having a driver's licence sucks, so I don't usually get plants until June when I go along with my Mother the teacher on her garden shopping trips when school has ended.) I gave the plants some banana skins today and I am hoping that some early cherry tomatoes from healthy, banana–fed plants will encourage me to be more attentive to the plants that need more than the mild neglect I give my herbs. :-)