- Approximate height: 40cm (15 inches)
- Recommended water depth over crown of plant: 0 - 10cm (0 - 4 inches)
- Flowering time: August - September
- Flower colour: Purple
- Supplied in the solid 9cm pot we grow them in - for best results we recommend potting on using a 1 litre pot
This British native species is an attractive and useful plant for covering the pond edge. Like other mints, it spreads by runners which creep over the top of the pot. In a situation without any competition, these runners spread at a medium to fast pace, so in a small pond it will probably need to be thinned by the end of the year. It produces rounded leaves which have a pleasant minty scent when disturbed, and are a lovely purplish colour when grown in a sunny spot. In contrast to some of the other native pond plants which are up early in spring, Water Mint is fairly late up, and late to flower, making it useful for extending the growing season of the pond. Whorls of pretty lilac blooms on tall stems appear in late summer, and are attractive to bees (the plant is on the RHS 'Perfect For Pollinators' list). For the best appearance, cut off the foliage after the flowers have finished; the plant will sprout the following year from new runners at the base.
If designing a planting scheme, we recommend approximately 1 Mentha aquatica plant per square foot of ground or per linear foot of pond edge. Read more on how to pot and care for your plant.