Lamb with mint sauce or mint jelly, and new season potatoes and young peas with finely chopped mint, are familiar combinations, but mints lend themselves to many other culinary uses. Spearmint, Moroccan mint, and the fruit-scented mints are excellent with iced teas, fruit-based drinks, and cold fruit desserts. Lime mint adds an Asian lime fragrance to chicken salads, and grapefruit and apple mints marry perfectly with cold pork dishes.

For an alternative to after dinner mints, sugar frosted chocolate mint leaves are perfect. Pick mature leaves of chocolate mint, and wipe with a damp paper towel. Lightly beat the white of one egg and, using a small brush, thinly paint both sides of the leaf. Sieve castor sugar over the leaves and place on a tray in an airy, warm place to dry.

Heat headaches and upset stomachs are not uncommon in summer. Such headaches can be alleviated by mint tea. In addition, harvest a large handful of purple tinted eau-de-cologne mint, crush the leaves, and inhale deeply. The scent will help lift that heavy-headed feeling. An upset stomach will often respond to hot peppermint tea.

Toiletry vinegars make a refreshing body spritz on hot, sticky days.This recipe, based on gentle cider vinegar, is a true pick-me-up:

Fresh and Minty Bath Vinegar

As an alternative, make mint bath bags by taking a square of muslin 35 cm wide and heaping into the centre a handful each of finely ground oatmeal, dried eau-de-cologne mint, and dried lemon balm, with a heaped tablespoon of dried rosemary. Tie together and suspend over the bath tap while drawing a bath, then use the bag for a gently defoliating scrub.

Pennyroyal is another indispensable mint for summer days, but for quite different reasons. Rubbed over hands and arms it deters the biting insects of summer. A handful can be tucked into dog and cat baskets to deter fleas. Never use pennyroyal internally.

To dry mints
At least three harvests can be obtained in the season. Hang bunches, composed of a few stems, upside down in an airy place out of the sun. As soon as the leaves are crisp dry, strip them and store in a cool, dry place in airtight containers.

Mint in the garden
Mints are exceptionally easy to grow provided they have adequate water. They enjoy abundant compost, a summer mulch, and a position out of the hot, drying, westerly sun. With such an array of delightfully scented cultivars, many gardeners have made a feature of mints. Some cultivars are very vigorous, so rather than fight this tendency with ineffective exclusion zones, make a feature of mints. A long, curving, garden path recently viewed was edged on either side with metre wide gardens of densely planted spearmint. Everyone lingered along this sunny path hazed with spikes of lavender-coloured flowers, alive with bees, and filling the air with sweet, cool fragrance.

In smaller gardens, consider lining a walk, or edging an area, with big tubs of mint, one cultivar to the tub. The fragrances will attract everyone. Provided they are regularly watered, some mints such as the cream variegated pineapple mint, also lend themselves to life in window boxes and hanging baskets. Moroccan mint is happy in a 15cm window-sill pot. The tiny-leafed Corsican mint M. requienii makes an emerald green, intensely mint scented, groundcover for moist, lightly shaded areas. The delicately leafed Australian mints grow well in similar locations. Pennyroyal makes a refreshing groundcover in moist, sunny areas, and In areas of light shade the related species American pennyroyal Hedeoma pulegioides flourishes.

Less well known are the closely related American mountain mints, species of Pycnanthemum. They are available in Australia and deserve to be far better known. Stonemint or grey mountain mint P. incanum is intensely peppermint scented, and sends up many tall stems of silver frosted, foliage ideal for dried arrangements. Virginia mountain mint has peppermint scented pale green foliage, pretty pink flowers, and is also excellent in dried arrangements.

Some mints (mainly smooth leafed forms of M. spicata), are prone to rust. Start plants of these in a new location every three years.

Propagating mint
Most mints form underground stems (rhizomes). These can be cut into 7.5 cm segments, laid flat on trays of soil, covered with an additional 5 cm of soil, and placed in a protected area. If regularly watered, a new plant will emerge at each node. Tip cuttings can also be taken, preferably in early autumn, or clumps can simply be divided into several rooted segments.

Botanical conundrums
The taxonomic confusion around the mints dates to the famed Roman botanist Strabo who swore in his ninth century book Hortulus that: ‘...if any man can name the full list of all the kinds and all the properties of mint, he must be one who knows.... how many sparks Vulcan sees fly in the air from his vast furnace in Etna’. Botanists have certainly been swearing at the mints ever since. Their proclivity for partying far and wide does not help, and they have crossed and re-crossed for millenia. More than 2,000 names have been published for the 19 mint species and their hybrids. Included here is the current classification of this recalcitrant group.