Here in Kansas many wild flowers grow. Some are medicinal plants and others are only beautiful. Wanted to note the wild mint as it grows commonly in my area. As a child the old timers called it horse mint for reasons i dont know or understand. Wild Mint, Mentha arvensis L. var. canadensis
This is what it looks like on my property. It’s very common in Kansas.
Looks alot like catnip lol,which is a mint too.
I wondered that but it seems like a cross of several types. This is not exactly it American wild mint Mentha canadensis from New England Wild Flower Society
It looks more like catnip than anything but it’s not catnip. Mints do readily hybridized so it could be all or some of these Catmint vs. Catnip: Here's the Difference | Better Homes & Gardens
Well it’s true that catnip ( Nepeta cataria) is in the mint family (Lamiaceae) but then again so is Basil.
That’s totally true. There’s alot in the mint family.
This is a stabilized mint that’s grown here since I was a child. At some point I will make crosses with it so less cold hardy mints like Lemon balm can grow here. Lemon balm grows in the cities nearby that are slightly warmer. Then I will stabilize the result. I’m actually working on it now. When I was younger I developed a lemon balm by a cross of several mints and stabilized it. My mom still grows the stabilized result. This wild mint gets several feet tall and is cold hardy.
Of course if it is Mentha arvensis then it’s a feral import from the old world.
we have it wild here as well. its very cold hardy. my lemon balm is spreading like crazy even after coming back from a -40 winter. i have a patch of chocolate mint i started as a cutting i took from a plant at the nursery 3 years ago. the patch is 4ft by 6ft now with 0 care. mints are insanely invasive here. i have mine surrounded by lawn. smells great cutting it back. i give it to the chics to deworm them. they love it!
