Basil mint - Mentha x piperita

Basil mint (Mentha x piperita f.citrata) is a variety of true mint, that smells and tastes a lot like sweet basil.  So far I have only used it raw, and it can be substituted for sweet basil.  I am told when cooked it can lose some of its taste if cooked for too long, so should only be added towards the end of cooking. 

I love sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum), but it is not hardy enough in my garden, and I don't get to have any basil over winter.  For a few years I grew a bunch of different basil varieties, some were better than others.  I started wondering if I could grow something that could be substitute for basil, but is hardier and more reliable, for use out of the basil growing season. Basil mint may be the solution I am looking for. 

Basil mint is a remarkable plant.  Like most varieties of mint it is vigorous, productive, and hardy.  Basil mint is currently reasonably difficult to find.  I dare say that will change with time, and this herb will become more common. 

'Basil mint' is a type of mint, it is perennial and edible.  Basil mint is not a cross between mint and basil, nor would this even be possible.  More importantly, basil and mint are not the same thing. 

Basil mint - a type of mint that tastes like sweet basil

My little rant about basil vs mint

There is a lot of nonsense on the internet (looking at you Reddit) making weird claims that mint and basil are the same, or that basil is a type of mint.  Before I go on I want to clear up these claims. 

Mint is any species or hybrid in the Genus Mentha.  Basil is any species or hybrid in the Genus Ocimum.  Mint and basil come from different genus, and are obviously different species.  Both Genera sit in the same Family - Lamiaceae, this seems to be the cause of confusion between them.  

When looking at the Lamiaceae phylogenetic tree, Mentha sits under the Subfamily Mentheae, while Ocimum sits under the Subfamily Ocimeae.  All of this means that basil and mint are quite distantly related.  While they are in the same Family, they are not even in the same subfamily.  They are not the same thing, and one is not a variety of the other. 

While it is true that Lamiaceae is sometimes referred to as 'mint', they are also commonly referred to as 'sage' or even 'deadnettles', meaning it is nonsensical to refer to all the plants in Lamiaceae as being a type of mint.  To put this in perspective, roses and strawberries are in the same Family, they are more closely related than mint and basil, as rose and strawberry are even in the same subfamily.  Yet no one claims a strawberry is a type of rose.  

Basil mint is also not a cross between basil and mint.  I am all for attempting wide hybrids, and if I thought it were possible to cross basil and mint I would encourage people to try.  Sadly, you cannot cross basil and mint.  

Basil mint plant

Now that's out of the way, I want to talk more about "basil mint" plants as they are pretty incredible. 

I like sweet basil very much, yet find it time consuming to grow from seed each year.  Frustratingly, I need to plant the seeds early, but they don't grow much until the heat is here.  I started breeding basil once, and had a very interesting line, but lost my new variety because I couldn't grow it for a few years and the seeds don't remain viable for very long.  

Sweet basil grows rather easily from cuttings.  It is possible to take basil cuttings and overwinter them.  Unfortunately it gets too cold in my house, and basil tends to rot and die over winter.  In warmer climates, or even if I heated my house more over winter, overwintering basil would be pretty simple.  My house gets cold over winter, especially over night after the fire has gone out, so overwintering basil in my house tends not to go well.

Various varieties of mint in pots in part shade on paving

I used to have a great variety of sweet basil that I grew from seed each year.  I didn't collect seed one year, and the following year none of my seeds germinated as presumably they were all too old.  I have never been able to find that variety again.  While this is sad, it is the reality of basil in my climate.

Supermarkets here often sell hydroponically grown fresh basil.  Growing basil from fresh herbs available in the supermarket is simple, and taking a few cuttings means I can grow a lot of plants pretty quickly.  The last few years we have seen rolling shortages of basically everything in supermarkets, which means I can't guarantee the shops will have fresh basil that I can buy and grow. 

I will always probably grow a little basil from seed.  Growing sweet basil from seed is simple enough, but I run the risk of losing my line if something goes wrong.  Growing basil from supermarket fresh herbs is simple enough, but tends to be seasonable and I can't guarantee they will have any. 

I will probably always grow some from cuttings I take from fresh supermarket basil, but I would also like something that will reliably be there that tastes like sweet basil, even in winter.  If possible, I would also like to find something that tastes like basil that can be productive in my winters. 

Basil mint growing in a pot

This is where I think 'basil mint' may come in useful. 

Growing mint is usually very simple.  Most types of mint are hardy and vigorous.  Mint needs water to do well, sometimes a little shade, other than that it is pretty care free.  

Some varieties of mint survive my winters by going dormant and resprouting in the spring.  Some varieties of mint are hardier and tend to stay above the soil all winter.  I don't know which category basil mint fall in, but I hope it is above ground all winter. 

Mint survives extreme heat if given enough water, and does even better with a little shade.  I have my basil mint in a pot of soil, at this stage it gets some shade, and it is growing fast.  

I grow mint in pots that are sitting on pavers.  When (when, not if) the mint sends out rhizomes and tries to escape I am able to prevent that as the paving gives me a little extra time.  I can remove the runner and stop it spreading to unwanted places.  If these pots were even sitting on soil, this would be impossible, and my garden would forever be over run by mint.

Mint should never be grown directly in the garden as it spreads vigorously.  Mint should never be planted in a pot that is sunk into the soil.  I don't care what gardening magazines tell you, digging a hole and planting a pot full of mint will not keep it contained to that pot.  Most mint varieties are so vigorous that even growing mint in a pot can be trouble as it will try to escape through the drainage holes as well as sending rhizomes over the top of the pot.  Planting this pot of mint in the soil would just be asking for trouble. 

When mint grows from seed the results are very diverse.  This means there are a few inferior clones around that smell like mint with barely a hint of basil.  That is not what I want.  To maintain the basil taste, this plant should only be propagated by divisions or cuttings, and never by seed.  

Basil mint in part shade

At this point I am still new to growing basil mint.  This one smells and tastes a lot like sweet basil.  I have read that it smells like a cross between mint and basil, and some of the versions I had come across in the past only smelled of mint, but I am happy to say that my plant does not smell of mint at all unless it is suffering heat stress.  This seems to be a great little clone. 

Sometimes mint changes it's scent when stressed, and changes back once the conditions are better.  Other varieties of mint do not change, and they smell and taste the same all the time.  This one seems to change with stress.  When heat stressed, it smells a little like spearmint mixed with basil.  When grown properly it smells strongly of basil and I can't discern any mint fragrance.  This works well because when the heat is here we normally have true basil growing, and this herb will be grown as a basil substitute outside of the basil growing season. 

Basil mint is a vigorous and productive plant that smells like sweet basil.  While it is not quite as strong as home grown basil, it certainly tastes stronger than store bought hydroponically grown basil.  I haven't grown it over winter yet, but have been told that it can be grown for use as a basil substitute over winter, and I have high hopes that this is true. 

I like 'basil mint' and think this is one herb that I will see become more popular and hopefully be more widely available soon.   

Once I have a few spare basil mint plants I will list them on my for sale page so other people have a chance to grow this delightful edible herb.