Ornamental Foliage
Chocolate Mint is a hybrid peppermint with a delightful twist on the classic minty flavor. This perennial herb, hardy in zones 5 through 9, grows 12 to 24 inches tall and spreads readily via rhizomes, making it an excellent ground cover or container specimen. The dark green, lance-shaped leaves release a distinctive minty-orange fragrance when brushed, and the plant produces showy lavender flower spikes from July through August that attract butterflies and other pollinators. Unlike many mints, deer and rabbits leave it alone, so you can plant with confidence even in wildlife-prone areas.
Partial Sun
Moderate
5-9
24in H x 24in W
Annual
High
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The minty-orange fragrance of Chocolate Mint's leaves sets it apart from standard peppermint varieties, offering a more complex and aromatic experience. It thrives in full sun to partial shade and adapts to most soils as long as they stay consistently moist, handling wet conditions and rain gardens with ease. The showy summer flowers are a genuine ornamental bonus, making this herb earn its place visually as well as functionally in the garden.
Chocolate Mint is primarily valued as a culinary herb. The leaves are steeped for tea, offering a refreshing minty infusion with subtle citrus notes, and work beautifully as a garnish for drinks, desserts, and savory dishes where a distinctive mint flavor is desired. The aromatic leaves also dry well for potpourri and herbal blends, extending their usefulness beyond the growing season.
Harvest Chocolate Mint leaves anytime during the growing season once the plant is established. For the strongest flavor and fragrance, pinch or cut leaves in the morning after the dew dries but before heat stress sets in. Continuous harvesting from the growing tips encourages branching and fuller growth. You can harvest individual leaves or cut entire stems above a leaf node to promote bushier development.
After the plant finishes blooming in late August, shear back the flower spikes to remove spent blooms and stimulate vigorous new foliage growth. This cutting encourages a bushier, more productive plant and prevents the herb from becoming leggy or overgrown.
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“Chocolate Mint is a cultivar of Mentha × piperita, a naturally occurring hybrid that has been cultivated for centuries. The parentage of peppermint itself traces to crosses between spearmint and watermint, but Chocolate Mint represents a deliberate selection within that broader hybrid group, bred specifically to enhance the citrus-forward, orange-tinged aromatic profile that distinguishes it from conventional peppermint. This variety preserves the vigor and reliability of peppermint while offering gardeners a more nuanced flavor experience.”