In finding plants to
buy the process is the same as if you are just looking.
Visit your local Garden
Centre or general Plant Nursery and see what they have in stock. Do rub the
leaf and smell the scent to see if you like it - this will not necessarily be
a good indication if the plant is pot-bound or has not been watered well. There
could be half a
dozen forms by May or June, maybe more.
If they don't have what
you want, then the next step is to visit a
Herb Farm, which will usually have a good selection of mints, and provide
plenty of choice for your further acquisitions.
When ordering or buying more forms remember that they all need a lot of room
in the ground or repotting each year and into big containers to do well.
That's a lot of space or
a lot of compost. There's no point in spending
your money on more plants than you can look after, and there's always next
year to add to your collection if you have room and time. Apart from my list
of Herb Farms, you could try working your way through the RHS website Nursery
Finder, click on the "herbs" category,
which will give you most but not all mint suppliers in their database.
If
you get to the stage when your local Herb Farm doesn't have anything further
to offer or you want something specific - which may not be
any better for mint sauce or mint tea than what you already have - then there
are a few Nurseries that offer
a much greater range of mints,
or what they do have are unusual and
difficult to find elsewhere.
For those of us who cannot travel far, or at
all, to get your plants, a lot of the Herb Farms do offer a Mail Order
Service. Give them a ring and ask or check their terms. For the suppliers with
the largest list of mints contact them directly to see what they actually have
available to send when you are ordering, or visiting, as it is likely that the
less common mints will only be propagated in small numbers each year.