Banana Mint Plant

A few years ago I heard of a plant called banana mint.  It was said to be a mint plant (either a Mentha species, or hybrid of several Mentha species) and it is meant to smell strongly of banana.  This herb sounded intriguing.  

Banana mint plant

Strangely enough I only ever see banana mint mentioned by nurseries that sell it and no mention from home gardeners.  Other than a passing remark that it exists, I don’t see any home gardeners ever mention this plant, which I find rather odd.  Good or bad I would have thought that someone would have spoken about their experience growing and eating it.

I searched for a few years and only found this plant for sale overseas, then one day I found it listed in Australia.  It was sold out, so I emailed the nursery and asked when they would likely have it in stock again.  They replied and said it should be back in spring, so every few weeks I checked their site and once it was available I bought one.  The place I bought it from is run by some dedicated, knowledgeable, and really lovely people, I highly recommend buying from them.

The plant arrived healthy, bare rooted, and small.  Quite often smaller plants cope better with postage and grow faster than larger plants, so I was happy with this.  I planted it in a pot, but it didn’t do much growing.  From spring to autumn it really didn’t get any larger than it was when I bought it.  We were in the midst of one of the biggest droughts ever recorded in this region, and had week after week of thick smoke, so I didn’t give it as much water as it deserved.  I tried to pick part of a leaf every now and again to smell, but feared damaging the plant so never took more than quarter of a leaf and was never able to really smell much.

Then winter came and the plant died down to below soil level.  I wasn’t sure if it was dead or not and wasn’t going to check until spring.  I top dressed the soil to boost fertility and hoped for the best.  Some mints die back over my winters, others power through, I didn’t know what to expect.

Once spring hit my little plant got to work, it had divided into 4 or 5 larger plants and was even growing out of the draining hole in the bottom of the pot.  As summer hit it started to flower.  I often try to prevent mint from flowering because they drop seed everywhere and are difficult to control, but I am tempted to allow banana mint to seed and see what the seedlings are like.  Chances are they will be nothing like the parent, but there may be something nice in there.  

Banana Mint Flowers

The growth rate of banana mint is slower and far less aggressive than other mints.  I usually find mint difficult to control even when planted in a pot, so a less aggressive mint should be easier to grow long term.  The leaves are green and a little fuzzy, the flowers are a lavender colour and like any other mint seem to attract bees.  But it is the smell that matters with herbs like this.

I am told that banana mint smells “freshly minty with strong unmistakable undertones of banana”.  I don’t smell any mint in my plant.  To me this plant does smell strongly of bananas but not exactly like banana.  I really like banana mint.

Back when I was at university I remember working with an organic ester called isoamyl acetate (3-Methylbutyl ethanoate), this has a distinctive smell of bananas but not exactly like bananas.  Most people who smelled this liked it, it does smell like banana, but just a little different.  I think banana mint must be high in isoamyl acetate because that is what it smells like to me. 

I am told that banana mint can be used to flavour sweet meals such as cakes and things, I am told it goes well with chicken or salads, and I am told it goes well in fruit punch.  I am told that it holds its flavour well after cooking.  I haven’t tried any of that but it all sounds reasonable.  So far I have only eaten a leaf raw here and there with my kids, and I have made herbal tea with banana mint.  The herbal tea is nice, it does smell like bananas.  

Banana Mint Leaves

To make banana mint tea I put a few leaves in a mug, add some honey, pour on some hot water, and stir.  Really simple. 

I quite like banana mint and plan to keep growing it.  Even though it is less aggressive in its growth I won’t risk growing it directly in the garden and will always keep it restrained in a pot or some other container.  If I have a spare plant I may offer it on my for sale page, but it is unlikely I will ever have many of these because my kids can’t help but strip the leaves off and smell/eat them whenever they think I am not looking.