Blue vs Pink Rosemary: Which One Is Better for Your Garden?

I have grown several rosemary plants over the years, but two have really stood out to me.  Both are unnamed varieties that I originally planted simply as rosemary, yet after growing them side by side for several years I noticed some interesting differences.

The blue-flowering rosemary has become a large, vigorous shrub that provides shade, attracts pollinators, and produces more rosemary than I can use.  The pink-flowering rosemary stays much smaller and more compact, making it a better choice where space is limited.

This isn't a comparison of named commercial cultivars. Instead, it's a practical comparison based on growing these two rosemary plants side by side in my own garden over the past few years.

Which rosemary is better - Quick Answer

If you're choosing between the two, I'd grow the blue rosemary for production and the pink rosemary where space or appearance matters more.  Both taste almost identical.

This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase something through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.  I only recommend products I personally use or believe would be useful.

Comparison of blue and pink rosemary varieties

The Large Blue Flowered Rosemary

My blue flowered rosemary is the larger and more vigorous of the two plants.  Blue rosemary is commonly grown in gardens, there are plenty of varieties to choose from.

Mine has now grown to over 6 feet (~1.8 metres) tall and has become one of the largest shrubs in my edible garden.  This plant is a permanent feature beside my chicken run.  I planted it on the western side where it provides some afternoon shade and protection.

One of my favourite things about this rosemary is how much it flowers.  It produces masses of blue flowers.  One thing I notice every time it flowers is how quickly bees and other beneficial insects find it.  On warm sunny days the flowers are often covered with pollinators.

If you are growing rosemary as a large shrub, a good pair of pruning shears makes maintenance much easier, it also makes harvest simple.  

I use these pruning shears, I have smaller hands and find they fit me better than many of the larger styles I have tried.  For me, they are much more comfortable to use when trimming and harvesting herbs.  As this rosemary grows thick woody stems, pruning shears make harvest simple. 

The leaves of my blue rosemary have a strong rosemary aroma and flavour.  Compared with my pink flowering rosemary, I think the aroma is slightly stronger, although if I wasn't growing them side by side I'm not sure I'd notice the difference.

The Pretty Pink Flowered Rosemary

I wrote previously about my pink flowered rosemary, which has a very different growth habit.  This is a rarer rosemary variety. 

Rather than becoming a huge shrub, this plant has stayed shorter and more compact.  It is less vigorous, but the flowers are beautiful and make it a very attractive garden plant.

I think this rosemary would suit smaller gardens, balconies, or growing in pots where a large spreading shrub would become difficult to manage.

Pink Rosemary vs Blue Rosemary

Can You Eat Pink Rosemary?

Yes.  My pink flowering rosemary tastes almost identical to the blue flowering plant.  Although I think the blue variety may have a slightly stronger aroma, the difference is subtle.  Both are excellent culinary herbs, and I use them interchangeably in cooking.

Blue vs Pink Rosemary Comparison

Feature	Blue Flowered Rosemary	Pink Flowered Rosemary
Growth habit	Large, vigorous shrub	Smaller and more compact
Size	Over 6 feet tall	Much shorter
Flowers	Lots of blue flowers	Pretty pink flowers
Pollinators	Excellent, many flowers	Good, but fewer flowers
Best use	Large gardens, hedges, shade planting	Pots and smaller spaces
Flavour	Very similar, possibly slightly stronger	Very similar

If you're growing rosemary in containers, I prefer reasonably large terracotta-style pots because rosemary dislikes sitting in wet soil.  

Rosemary comparison

What About Prostrate Rosemary?

This comparison does not include prostrate rosemary, which is another common type of rosemary with a completely different growth habit.

Prostrate rosemary grows along the ground rather than forming an upright shrub, making it useful for rockeries, retaining walls, and ground cover.  

I grow this too, but it mostly gets lost among my other plants and the upright versions are the ones we mostly use for cooking.  For spilling over retaining walls, my go to plant is Jekka's thyme. 

For this comparison I am only looking at upright rosemary plants.

Do Bees Prefer Blue or Pink Rosemary?

I tend to see honey bees on all my rosemary plants.  The blue variety has more flowers, so tends to have more bees.  As the pink rosemary grows larger, and flowers more, I am expecting it to attract similar amounts of pollinators. 

Rosemary attracts many beneficial pollinators

Which Rosemary Would I Grow?

After growing both, I have no plans to remove either one.  They fill different roles in my garden, and that's exactly why I like having both.   

The large blue flowered rosemary is incredibly useful.  It provides height, shade, flowers for pollinators, and plenty of rosemary for cooking.  I grow this on the western side of my chicken run to provide afternoon shade. 

The pink flowered rosemary is less productive as a large shrub, but it earns its place because it is attractive and easier to fit into a smaller space.  This variety still produces enough rosemary for cooking.  I am also growing this near the chicken run for shade, but have it in a place where I want something shorter.

If I only had room for one rosemary plant, I would choose based on the space available rather than flavour.

For a large garden, the vigorous blue flowering type wins.  For a pot or small garden or if I wanted something more unique, the prettier pink flowering rosemary is probably the better choice.

I grow both of these rosemary plants in my own garden, as well as an unnamed prostrate rosemary.  I currently sell the vigorous blue flowered rosemary, and plan to offer the pink flowered type in the future as I build up stock.  My current plants for sale can be found on my plant sale page.

I grow rosemary near my chicken run

Related Posts

• Pink Flowered Rosemary for the Edible Garden
• Thyme Variety Comparison - which is the best edible thyme variety
• Other Perennial Herbs I Grow - catalogue of herbs and perennial vegetables I grow
• Chicken Run Salad Bar - fresh greens for chickens - how I grow fresh greens for my hens
• Keeping Chickens Laying Through Winter: My Results With Artificial Light - easy way to increase eggs through winter

Basil Mint: The Hardy Perennial Herb That Tastes Like Sweet Basil

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.

Pink Flowered Rosemary for the Edible Garden

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a perennial edible herb of which there are many varieties, some are better than others.  Some are strong growers and others weak, some have upright growth while others cascade over the side of things, some have larger leaves or more fragrance than others.  They are all edible, which is nice. 

For years I have heard about a pink flowered variety of rosemary.  I considered getting one, but I already have a good, very strong growing blue flowered rosemary.  Then, not overly long ago, I found a pink flowered rosemary. 

It was a tiny and weak plant, it had pink flowers, and I figured it was worth giving it a try.  I don't tend to have great success with rosemary cuttings, but I took a cutting anyway.  This cutting survived and grew for me.  

Recently the cutting grown plant started to flower.  It is indeed a pink flowered rosemary, and it is quite pretty.  Just like most varieties of rosemary, it produces a lot of flowers.  

Flowers look white in the photo but are more pink in real life

Pink flowered rosemary

The photos don't capture the colour of the flowers very well.  They look white or very pale pink in the photos, but in real life they are far more pink. 

Rosemary is a culinary herb, all parts are edible, people mostly eat the leaves or use small sprigs in cooking.  I'm happy to say that this pink flowered rosemary smells and tastes pretty much the same as my normal blue flowered rosemary.  Perhaps the pink scent is slightly weaker, but this may be due to growing conditions.  Either way, it smells good enough for me. 

Most rosemary has blue flowers.  I grow an upright variety, as well as a prostrate variety.  They both have blue flowers.  I am tempted to graft a prostrate rosemary onto an upright one and make a weeping plant, but have never gotten around to that. 

Below are some of my blue flowered Rosemary.  Again, my photos don't capture the colour well.  

Most rosemary has blue flowers

One thing I like about rosemary is how many flowers it makes, and how long it flowers each year.  For months on end my plant produces many hundreds of flowers.  At times there are so many flowers that it is hard to see the leaves.

Many beneficial insects and other pollinators like rosemary flowers.  There are so many flowers in such a small amount of space that it takes little effort for bees to collect a lot of nectar and pollen.  

My rosemary pretty much always has bees on it as well as many other species of pollinators.  

Superb fairy wrens and other tiny birds like rosemary too.  They like to forage in shorter grass, and have thick shrubby things they can dart into when danger comes.  Larger birds can't get to the wrens when they hide in the rosemary.

Bees love rosemary

Rosemary produces a lot of flowers over a long time

Another thing I like about rosemary is that the upright varieties can grow quite tall.  I have some blue flowered rosemary growing along the edge of the chicken's run.  Even though my chickens don't tend to eat rosemary it is still beneficial to them.  

The rosemary grows tall and dense, and provides afternoon shade for my hens.  Shade is important, most animals struggle in the heat of summer.   

As it grows through the wire, the chickens brush past it and release some of its oils.  These oils can lower the amount of lice and other external parasites that bother the hens.  This will never eradicate poultry lice, but it can help to reduce lice numbers, which is a good thing.

The massive number of flowers on the rosemary also lures in various insects, which in turn attract small hunting spiders.  The chickens eat many of these insects and spiders.  While the chickens probably don't eat enough of these insects/spiders to lower the feed bill, live food is good for hens and helps them stay healthy.  

Rosemary growing along chicken run to block afternoon sun

It was very windy, these plants are normally more upright

My pink flowered rosemary is still a small plant.  It is growing a 10cm pot of soil, and would benefit from being planted somewhere with more room for root growth. 

I am not sure where to plant it at this stage, but think it will do better in the soil than it does in a small pot.  Perhaps I should also grow this near the chicken's run.  As i grows taller it can also help provide afternoon shade.  Or perhaps I will find somewhere else to plant it.  

I sometimes sell rosemary and other edible herbs and perennial vegetables and heirloom vegetable seeds through my for sale page.  Most things are quite seasonal, so my list of things for sale changes each month.  

Water Pepper (Persicaria hydropiper): Growing and Uses

For a few years I heard about a plant called water pepper, Persicaria hydropiper, it is also called smartweed.  I almost bought seeds, but they sold out a few yeas ago and it hasn't ever come in stock again.  

This plant looks superficially a lot like Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata), but lacks the dark smudge.  Unlike perennial Vietnamese coriander, water pepper is an annual.  

According to the Victorian Department of Agriculture, this plant 'may or may not be native to Australia'.  I think that means it is growing in a lot of areas, isn't causing any harm to anyone, and it has been there for so long that they don't know if it is native or introduced.  

Persicaria hydropiper - Water Pepper

After impatiently waiting for seed to return for sale, I found some plants growing near a river.  There were a few large clumps of this plant.  All of them were near water, but none were underwater and none were growing as emergent plants.  

I took two small cuttings and brought them home.  Much like Vietnamese coriander, the water pepper was simple to grow from small cuttings.  I didn't want to disturb the local population and figured two small cuttings would be the least invasive way for me to grow this plant.  

I wanted two cuttings just in case it needed a second clone in order to set seed.  In hind sight I could have taken a few plants without making any real difference to that population, but the cuttings worked for me.

I did a lot of research before tasting this plant to make sure it was the correct species.  There are many species of Persicaria, many look similar, and all of them are edible.  This is a relief because even had I mixed up the species I would not endanger myself by eating it.

Water pepper tastes hot and peppery.  Apparently it was one of the plants used in Europe as a pepper substitute when pepper and other spices were prohibitively expensive.  Some people say it tastes similar to horseradish or wasabi, but I find it to be unique.  

The heat in water pepper comes from a substance called polygodial.  It is kind of a cool heat, if that makes any sense at all.  I find the seeds make my tongue numb.  I like it.

Seed grown water pepper plants

My water pepper grew really well.  It liked damp soil, and grew into tall plants quickly.  I took a cutting of one of my plants and grew it in garden soil where it was not overly damp.  This did ok, but not as well as the ones that had boggy soil.

It wasn't hard to pinch out the growing points and make them branch into bushy and productive plants.  If you were harvesting the leaves you would be doing this automatically, and the more you harvest the better they would grow.  Had I wanted to, I could easily have taken many more cuttings from my plants and expanded the numbers considerably.

Given how easy water pepper is to grow, and how this is too peppery to be eaten in large quantities, I did a bit of reading if any breeding work has been done to make this more of a salad vegetable.  

It turns out there is no need for this as there are other species that lack the heat, and are already good and productive vegetables.  

I found lots of info on several different Persicaria species on someone else's blog.  One species I would love to get some day is Lady's thumb (Persicaria maculosa).  It sounds pretty incredible.

I know that Lady's thumb, and a few of the other species, are present in Australia, but I haven't been able to get them yet.    

I think Lady's thumb can be a bit of a garden weed, so no one seems to sell it.  Hopefully one day I am able to try some and see what it tastes like.  Like most Persicaria species it is meant to need a lot of water to thrive, so even if it is a garden weed it shouldn't bee overly difficult to control.  Lots of edibles, such as mint or lemon balm are weeds, I just grow them with care.  

My water pepper plants grew well over the warmer seasons.  They grew nice and tall, then flowered, and died.  Being annual plants this did not come as a surprise.  I collected some seed, and sprinkled some into the soil in the original pot. 

The seeds of water pepper are edible, and are hot/peppery.  I tasted a few, they were pretty intense.  I liked them, but collecting enough seeds to use in a meal seems a bit labour intensive for my liking.  Perhaps if I had more plants this would be faster and easer, but for now I am only collecting seeds for planting so I need fewer of them.  

Once the weather warmed, the seed started to germinate.  Germination was a bit patchy, but these seeds were not planted, instead they had been in this pot for months over winter so staggered germination was expected.  I'm told the seeds don't need stratification, and you can just plant them when the weather warms. 

My Vietnamese coriander flowers each year, and it is in the same Genus as water pepper.  I don't know if anyone has ever tried to cross the two.  I have a few projects at the moment so am not sure if that is a job for me at this stage.  

Water pepper seedlings germinating

I am tempted to go back to the place I collected the initial cuttings and collect some more cuttings from more individual plants, perhaps taste a leaf from each and take a cutting from anything that stands out.  Maybe I will see if I can find a different population somewhere else and collect a few cuttings from there as they would have a different genetic stock.  Having cuttings from a few more plants would increase the genetic diversity of my stock, which is a good thing.

Being seed grown means there should be some variation, and some ability to select for the traits I want.  If nothing else having greater diversity means if there is a pest or disease, my plants should be able to cope better.  As these were locally grown, they have already survived everything in my area and are pretty well adapted to growing here. 

Water pepper flowering - I wish I took better photos

I think water pepper is a nice plant, and would like to grow more of it.  I see very few places selling plants or seeds, which means very few people will ever have a chance to eat some of this.  

I will probably sell water pepper plants through my for sale page over the warmer months.  I may sell seed if I ever collect a lot of them, or I may just stick to plants as they grow so well.  I mostly sell perennial vegetables and perennial herb plants, but think there is a place for a few annuals like this one.

Growing Spanish Lavender from Seed

For no particular reason, other than I had never done so, I grew Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) from a seed.  

Sometimes I grow plants from a seed for no other reason than because I haven't grown that plant from seed before.  This was one of those situations.  

Spanish lavender from seed

Spanish lavender is a fragrant and edible herb that is also used medicinally and grown as an ornamental plant.  Honey bees and other pollinators seem to like lavender flowers.  Spanish lavender differs from English lavender by having distinctive flower heads topped with colourful bracts that resemble small flags or rabbit ears.

Lavender is said to be simple to grow, and it's meant to be simple to grow from cuttings.  Growing lavender from seed is meant to be far more difficult, and a lot slower.  

For some reason I always struggle to grow lavender, and I struggle to get lavender cuttings to take.  Instead of fighting a losing battle with lavender, I grow lavender mint, which is a variety of mint that smells and tastes like lavender.  Lavender mint is very simple to grow in my garden and very productive.  Lavender mint grows so well that for a long time I had not thought about trying to grow real lavender.

The flowers are quite dark, I like them

I didn't find growing lavender from seed to be overly difficult.  The most difficult part was getting seed.  The seed is not viable for very long, and many places selling lavender seed will usually send old dead seed.  

I sowed the seed in a small pot of potting mix and kept it moist.  Germination took several weeks, and growth was quite slow at first.  Once established, however, it was straightforward to grow and eventually produced flowers while still quite small.  It took a long time before it germinated and grew into a small flowering plant, I needed a lot of patience, other than that growing lavender from seed was pretty straight forward.  

Spanish lavender is a species of lavender.  While the leaves may look vaguely similar, it is not a type of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis).  

Apparently a lot of people have difficulty telling these apart, but to me they don't look very similar other than the shape of the leaves.  They grow differently, the flowers look very different, and the smell/taste of the plant is very different.  I would not use lavender in place of rosemary in a meal.  

My Spanish lavender seedling is only small, yet it is flowering well.  I don't think this is unusual for this species.  The plant isn't especially unusual, the flowers aren't terribly unique, but I still like it.  I probably like it mostly because I grew it from a seed.  

I will try to grow this out and see how it performs for me once it is larger.  I struggle to keep lavender alive, but perhaps this seed grown one will be easier for me.  Or maybe this one will die over summer.  Only time will tell.  I'm glad I grew this little one, now I need to find space for it in the garden somewhere.  

Vietnamese Fish Mint (Houttuynia cordata): Growing Guide, Uses & Recipes

Vietnamese fish mint (Houttuynia cordata) is an edible perennial herb widely used in Vietnamese cuisine.  It's productive, easy to grow and extremely vigorous, making container growing the best option for most gardens.

I have been growing Vietnamese Fish Mint for years, yet for some reason I have never written a blog post on it before now.  

What is Vietnamese Fish Mint?

This plant has many common names, including dokudami, 'poison blocking plant',  lizard tail, heartleaf, fishwort, bishop's weed, and it has a heap of other common names too.  I usually just call it 'fish mint'.

Vietnamese Fishmint is a perennial vegetable that not closely related to mint.  It is edible and used as a vegetable or herb, it has a long history of medicinal use, as well as a long history as a remedy for poisoning.  

This is an essential vegetable in Vietnamese cooking, and appears to be eaten extensively in South East Asia.  This is very uncommon in Australia, yet extremely simple to grow and very productive.

Vietnamese fish mint in flower

What Does Fish Mint Taste Like?

Fish mint has a strong and rather distinctive smell.  Some people love the taste of fish mint, others not so much.  Some people liken its smell to oranges, others think it smells like fish, to others it smells like the gravel in the bottom of a fish tank.  

Vietnamese Fish Mint tends to be eaten raw, or only lightly cooked/wilted.  It does taste a lot like fish sauce, and can be used to make a vegetarian fish sauce.  When raw it tastes a bit too...I'm not sure how to explain it...perhaps too 'metallic' for my liking.  

Once slightly cooked I prefer the taste.  Other people tell me they can't taste any of the metallic taste that I notice, so I guess it differs from person to person.  

What can Fish Mint be used for?

Fish mint can be used to make a Vegan Fish Sauce.  Seriously!  How cool is that.  I found a recipe that I shared below, but if you have a better recipe and are willing to share it I would love to learn more.  

It is also used to make a medicinal "dokudami" herbal tea.  I have made this a few times, it tastes nice but I find the smell to be a little too strong for me.  My kids have tried the herbal tea, they like it.  I have made herbal tea using fish mint as well as other herbs such as lemon balm.  This was nicer, but I still found the fish mint to be overpowering.  

The rhizomes are used in a bunch of different herbal remedies, many of which have been proven to be effective.  Unfortunately I don't know how to make these medicines.  Presumably just eating the rhizome is enough to gain some benefit.  I find the rhizomes to be less overpowering than the leaves.  

Vietnamese Fish Mint 

Vietnamese Fish Mint is great for animals

Many animals, including chickens, quail, ducks, guinea pigs, sheep, and pigs gladly eat fish mint.  It has a lot of nutrients and some medicinal benefit.  Interestingly, fish mint has been demonstrated in many peer reviewed papers to protect chickens from bronchitis (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21848486/), as well as treat coccidiosis in chickens and lambs as effectively as commercial coccidiosis medication.  

I am tempted to grow this in a hanging pot in the chicken run so the hens can get the benefits of an organic coccidiosis treatment.  

Varieties of Fish Mint

There are several varieties of this plant.  I grow the most vigorous green version with single flowers.  There is a green one with double flowers, and there is also a multicoloured variegated one that looks really pretty and spreads less vigorously.  

I am told the green one is not only more vigorous, but also more potent.  My chickens gladly eat the leaves, but I don't give them many, so I am glad I grow the most potent version.  

The leaves of the variety I grow are green, heart shaped, and they look very similar to buckwheat leaves.  The flowers are white and not overly interesting.  Bees and other insects visit the flowers, but never seem overly keen on them.  I am happy to say that the variety I grow never produces viable seed. 

Fish mint on left, buckwheat on right 

How to Grow Vietnamese Fish Mint

Fish mint grows extremely vigorously.  Let me stress, it is extremely vigorous.  One or two pots of this plant will be more than enough for the average household.  I am happy to say mine does not set any viable seed, ever, which makes it much easier to control.  In most Australian gardens I strongly recommend growing fish mint in a container, as it spreads aggressively via underground rhizomes.  I would not grow this in the soil or it might take over my yard, and my neighbour's yards, and every time I walk in the yard or mow it will smell like fish.  

I grow most of my fish mint in a container, and the container is on pavers.  My main one is in a plastic tub that we drilled holes in, it's not very deep but it is wide to allow the plant to spread, but any plant pot would do.  The rhizomes will try to escape through the drainage holes, but they can't cross the pavers.  

I have been growing this plant for seven or eight years and it has never escaped on me.  I also grow some in pots on wire shelves in my greenhouse, but these are being grown out to sell at markets and through the post.  

Fish mint escaping it's pot

Propagating Fish Mint

Fish mint does not produce seed, or at least the one I grow has not produced any seed in the time I have grown it.  This is not a problem because it is easily divided to produce more plants.  If it did produce seed I am not sure that I would be willing to grow it because it spreads so vigorously.  

This plant is not related to mint (Mentha sp) and does not taste or smell even vaguely similar to mint.  I believe the word 'mint' in its common name is probably due to the way it spreads aggressively via underground rhizomes like mint.  

As well as being easy to divide, this plant grows readily from cuttings.  Planting cuttings in soil seems to result in 100% strike rate if the soil is kept damp.  I have only tried striking a cutting in water once, this grew well for me but not as fast as the ones planted in soil.  

I have never tried to restore fertility and grow from seed.  I prefer that it does not produce seed as it stops it from escaping into my yard.  I have considered getting the prettier variegated form, but don't know if a second clone would increase the possibility of viable seed, so for that reason have resisted the urge to get the variegated form.

When grown in a pot, some rhizomes will try to escape through the drainage holes.  Any rhizomes that try to escape the drainage holes can be roughly torn off, planted in a pot of damp soil, and will produce more plants.  They grow very quickly from rhizomes and produce large healthy plants very fast.  

Fishmint rhizomes potted up and ready to grow

Fish mint grows well in part shade, and survives in full sun.  It seems to prefer damp areas, but does not need to be waterlogged to grow well.  I have heard it can be grown as an emergent water plant, but haven't grown it like that myself.

Mine gets pretty dry at times over summer, if it looks like it is burning off I give it some water and it bounces back quickly.  I imagine if the soil got too dry for an extended period it would die.  This plant has a strong will to live, and tends to recover easily from all kinds of poor treatment.  

I have seen fish mint growing in floating pots on a pond.  I love the looks of this, and think it would do well in cleaning the pond water when grown like this.  Care would need to be taken that the pot did not get too near the edge and allow the plant to set root into the mud on the bank, as it would be difficult to remove once it became established.  

Fishmint goes mostly dormant over the winters here.  I say 'mostly dormant', because some years all the above ground parts die back, and other years it just looks scraggly and keeps a few leaves here and there.  The underground rhizomes survive very cold temperatures, easily coping with -10C with frozen solid soil, and it grows vigorously once the warmer weather returns.  

I am told that people (often in the US) grow the weaker variegated version of fish mint under trees or near ponds where it looks lovely.  They soon regret this as it takes over the yard, and it smells like fish every time they mow.  This is where my hesitation to grow it in a floating pot on a pond comes from.

Spraying does not kill this plant, herbicides easily kill the above ground parts, and it quickly resprouts from many underground rhizomes.  This is a plant that does not want to die.  I have heard that it can survive under weed mat for years, and pop up once their is a rip in the weed fabric.  

The simple way to deal with this is don't grow it in the garden bed.  Grow it in a pot, and have the pot on pavers.  As I mentioned, mine has not escaped and I have grown it for seven or eight years.  

Vietnamese Fish Mint Recipes

Vegan Fish Sauce Recipe 

I found a recipe for vegan fish sauce here, it is so simple.

Ingredients: 1 cup packed fish mint leaves; 3 Thai chili peppers; 2 cloves garlic; 1/3 cup sesame oil; 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar 

Instructions: Puree all ingredients in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

Other Fish Mint Recipes 

I also found a recipe for Fish mint that uses rhizomes as well as leaves.  It also is very simple.

Ingredients: 1/4 cup shredded young fish mint leaves, 1/4 cup chopped fishmint rhizomes, 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon fried chili crisp or chilli oil, 1 tablespoon chopped coriander cilantro, 1 tablespoon chopped scallions.

Instructions: Combine all the ingredients and toss shredded fishmint leaves and rhizomes. Chill for 10 minutes before serving.

As well as another recipe that includes tofu.

Ingredients: 200 g fish mint stems, broken into 4 cm lengths (or lotus stems), 8 fried tofu cubes, 1 handful of chopped mint leaves, 1/2 cup coriander, roughly sliced, 1/2 cup garlic chives, roughly sliced, 1/2 cup red peppers, finely sliced 

Dressing: 3 tbsp light soy, 2 tbsp black vinegar, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 2 spring onions, sliced, 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes, 3 garlic cloves, diced, 4 cm piece of ginger, finely sliced.

Instructions: To make the dressing, in a bowl, combine the light soy sauce, black vinegar, brown sugar, spring onion, chilli flakes, garlic and ginger. Stir well and set aside for a few minutes to infuse.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the fish mint stems, tofu, mint, coriander, garlic chives and red peppers. Add the dressing and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving platter.

I have only shared a few recipes above.  There seem to be a host of similar recipes around, plus many families have their own family recipes.  If you have a good recipe and are willing to share it let me know and I can add it.  

Vietnamese fish mint

The good and the Bad of Fish Mint

I mentioned earlier that this plant is vigorous, and I find the smell to be overpowering.  Some people adore fish mint, so much so that they will drive an hour each way to pick up a plant from me.  

I don't want to detract from the many benefits of this plant, so please read my opinion of its smell while keeping in mind that different people like different things, and that some people adore fish mint.  Fish mint is also incredibly healthy to eat, both people and animals benefit from eating it, so please don't take my comments to mean that you should not grow and eat this.  

I really can't cope with the smell of fish mint.  It is too strong for me.  Even repotting this can be too much for me at times.  

Other people comment how they adore fish mint, and most people I sell it to rave about it.  I had a few people drive out to buy fish mint plants from me cry tears of joy.  They told me they cried because it is a taste of home, a very dear memory, and they were fearing that they would never be able to eat this again after moving to Australia.  

While I don't think anyone should ever grow this in the garden do to how rampantly it spreads, I think this is well worth growing to see if you like it.  If you like the taste it is incredably healthy to eat.  I also know that this plant makes a cherished gift to Vietnamese or Chinese friends.  

Vietnamese Fish Mint Plant

Where to Buy Fish Mint in Australia

This plant is very useful for making Vietnamese spring rolls, Pho, and dokudami herbal tea.  People who buy this from me often say that they are thankful that they will never be without it again.

I have been selling organically grown Fish Mint plants for years through my for sale page along with other perennial vegetables I have for sale in Australia.  If you are interested go and have a look.  I either sell small fish mint plants, well rooted cuttings, or dormant rhizomes, depending on the time of year.  If selling rhizomes I tend to include extras, they will all grow once it starts to warm a little.  Over winter they are mostly dormant, and look very shabby, but they grow like mad once the weather warms.  

Small Flowered Willow Herb

For a few years I have been growing willowherb (Epilobium parviflorum).  Some of its common names include 'small flowered willow herb', 'hoary willowherb' and 'small flowered hairy willow herb'.   

There are a bunch of different plants that have the common name of willow herb, so it is important to pay attention to the binomial name.  

I believe this is named willowherb because its leaves grow long and slender, like willow.  It also likes to live in damp places, much like willow.  This plant is not even remotely related to willow, and (while I am not certain of this) from what I have read it does not produce any aspirin/salicylic acid.  

Small flowered willowherb

Willowherb is edible, it doesn't really have much of a taste on its own, it isn't bitter or unpleasant in any way.  The leaves can be added to a salad and eaten raw, dried and used in herbal teas, and it can be eaten cooked.  Every part is said to be edible, but I have only tried the leaves. 

The texture of the leaves is not remarkable in any way.  They are not unpleasant, or hairy, or slimy.  Certainly not bad in any way, it's also not overly memorable or impressive.  If using raw in  salad I would probably tear or cut the leaves somewhat.  

This herb has been used as medicine to treat prostate and kidney issues, there are a few studies indicating it could be effective in treating these ailments.  

This plant handles frosts well.  It grows tall and flowers over summer, and goes back to a short plant in winter.  Over winter here it does not go completely dormant, but it does die back considerably.  

The heat of summer doesn't seem to be an issue as long as it is well watered. 

Willow herb has small pink flowers

I grow willow herb in a few different ways, it always does well, it does particularly well if given a lot of water and fertile soil.  

I grow some in a pot of soil, and it does fine.  I grow some in a pot with no drainage holes that always has wet boggy soil, it does very well.  I have some in my goldfish barrelponics, and it thrives there.  

Full sun and part shade both work well.  It doesn't like to dry out, and seems to prefer lots of moisture.  That being said, it copes drying out better than I had expected.  For a week my barrelponics pump didn't work and my pot of plants dried out completely.  The Vietnamese coriander and other plants died off quiet badly, while the willowherb looked fine.  

Willowherb in barrelponics 

Growing small flowered willowherb from stem cuttings is simple.  It puts up a tall stem for flowering, cut it into sections, plant each section vertically in moist soil or put the base of each cutting in water and they produce roots quickly.  

Sometimes I plant the cuttings directly into moist soil and I get similar results.  

Small flowered willowherb also divides itself.  Plants slowly produce several growing points.  If I snap one off and plant it in damp soil they usually produce a new plant.  These growing points usually have a few roots if I snap them low enough.  While this is very reliable, it is also a very slow way to propagate them.  I find it a lot faster to take cuttings once they send up a flower stalk.

Goldfish barrelponics - willowherb and Vietnamese corainder

Growing willowherb from seed is surprisingly simple for a perennial herb with such tiny seeds.

The plants send up tall stems in summer, these grow small pink flowers on long stems.  The flowers are at the end of long pods.   

Small pink flowers on tall stems

After the flowers die the seed pods grow longer.  When the stem dries, it splits open and releases dozens of tiny seeds.  Once the pod begins to split, all the seeds are ripe.  

These seeds look like dandelion seeds, except tiny.  Each has a little parachute, and is gladly carried off by the wind. 

To sow seeds I open a dry pod, tip the seeds onto moist soil, water it in, and in a few days every seed germinates.  It is that simple.  

I don't remove their parachute, I don't bury the seeds, I just put them on soil and water them.  

Fresh seed seems to yield close to 100% germination.  They produce tremendous numbers of seeds, so you probably wouldn't need to even plant an entire pod's worth of seed to be more than enough.  I have no idea how long willowherb seed remains viable.  So far I have not had any volunteer seedlings pop up anywhere other than in pots.  

Seed pod opening

Tiny seeds with parachutes

Each pod makes a lot of seed

The seedlings are tiny, and very slow growing.  It seems to take may months before they grow true leaves.  This may be because the soil I am growing them in is low in nutrients or they are not getting enough sunlight, perhaps they would grow a lot faster under better conditions.

So far I have not had issues with slugs or snails, but I think that's just luck.  I am guessing snails would eat out the tiny seedlings before they get established.  Once established they don't seem to have any pest issues.

If you had a damp area in the garden I think these would do very well.  They produce nice looking flowers on tall stalks, the leaves can be long and slender.  Other than making sure they are not too dry, and cutting off flower stalks once per year after they are sent, they take no work to look after.  You would then be able to harvest handfulls of leaves most of the year from a nice looking perennial herb. 

If you are interested in growing willowherb, I sell some plants from time to time and may sell fresh seed next time I collect it.  I can post plants bare rooted throughout much of Australia.  Willowherb will look a but sad after being posted, but it tends to pick up very quickly after being planted and watered.