Calamintha: planting, caring for, harvesting

Description and Botany

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The Calamintha, also known as Calamint is an aromatic perennial plant, belonging to the large family of Lamiaceae, a relative of mint, sage, catnip, and lemon balm. It grows wild in clear underwoods, sunny fallows, meadows, and scrublands of Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

There are fewer than ten species, including Calamintha grandiflora or large-flowered calamint, Calamintha sylvatica or Calamintha officinalis, the “true” calamint also known as wood savory, and Clinopodium nepeta subsp. sylvaticum, Calamintha nepeta, small calamint, or glandular calamint. Each has given rise to cultivars with differing flower colours.

This small rhizomatous plant forms a tuft that is often creeping with a bushy and highly branched habit, reaching heights of 30 to 80 cm in all directions, spreading slowly through its running rhizomes but without the invasive character of its close relative, garden mint.

In spring, soft, rectangular-section stems emerge in a small cushion of deciduous to semi-evergreen leaves depending on the climate. Short-petiolate, they are arranged in pairs on the stems, oppositely, oval to oblong with slightly dentate edges. Shiny or villous, depending on the species, crinkled with prominent veins, they measure 5 cm long. They are pale green to grey-green and turn creamy in variegated varieties (Calamintha grandiflora ‘Variegata’). They strongly resemble those of mint and are aromatic and perfectly edible. They have a spicy, lemony flavour reminiscent of both mint and marjoram when crushed.

Calamintha officinalis – botanical illustration

On this bushy vegetation, flowers appear in a light and fragrant cloud in the axils of the upper leaves from June until the end of summer, borne at the top of the stems. They are arranged in racemes and gathered in loose clusters all facing the same direction, supported by a common peduncle.

Tubular in shape, they open into a two-lipped corolla measuring 2 to 8 cm long. Calamintha grandiflora has slightly larger flowers (7-8 cm) than the other species. These numerous small bell-shaped tubular flowers bloom in soft or bright shades, ranging from vivid carmine pink to purple, lavender, or pure white.

These delicate spikes, measuring 25 to 35 mm in length, are particularly nectariferous and melliferous, emitting a very refreshing menthol scent that irresistibly attracts bees and butterflies.

After flowering, the flowers transform into small fruits containing numerous seeds.

Very cold-resistant down to -15 to -20°C, calamint can be found throughout France. It grows easily in full sun, in any well-drained soil, even calcareous and stony.

Versatile, Calamintha can be planted alone, at the edge of a wild-looking flowerbed or pathway, and of course in a herb garden.

The entire plant is aromatic and exudes a scent of mint, lemon, pepper, and lavender. In cooking, its leaves can replace mint and are part of a culinary herb mix (za’atar) with oregano and thyme, widely used in the Middle East. This herb will flavour herbal teas, infusions, drinks, or even peaches in syrup. It also has many therapeutic, digestive, and calming properties and is known to relieve migraines and painful menstruation.

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Main species and varieties

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Calamintha grandiflora - Calamint

This is the only one of its kind to have such large flowers! It can be used either as a standalone or to border a path or walkway, for a flowerbed.

• Flowering time July to September
• Height at maturity 50 cm

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Calamintha grandiflora Variegata - Calamint

This cultivar stands out with its pale green foliage splashed with cream and its exquisite pink bells. Wonderful at the front of borders or in a rock garden.

• Flowering time July to October
• Height at maturity 30 cm

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Calamintha nepeta - Calamint

It forms a beautiful, regular bushy clump covered with a multitude of pale pink flowers. Ideal for a large rock garden.

• Flowering time July to November
• Height at maturity 40 cm

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Calamintha nepeta Weisse Riese - Calamint

These small white flowers create a mist over beautiful aromatic foliage. Just as lovely in borders as on a dry stone wall, or in pots.

• Flowering time July to November
• Height at maturity 40 cm

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Calamintha sylvatica Menthe - Calamint

It exudes a captivating scent of peppermint and lavender. It will look its best in a large rock garden, a scree garden, a paved area, or on a well-exposed slope.

• Flowering time July to October
• Height at maturity 40 cm

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Planting

Where to plant Calamintha?

The Calamintha or calaminth grows in all our regions, easily tolerating cold down to -15°C to -20°C. This perennial from the Mediterranean region requires a sunny position, although it can also accept partial shade and dry shade under trees and bushes.

Not demanding, it adapts to any soil, even poor or stony, preferring dry, sandy, or calcareous soil, but will tolerate richer and cooler soil only if well-drained. Soil that is too compact and wet in winter may cause the roots to rot.

Provide it with a location where it can comfortably spread its suckering stems. It can be used for ground cover.

It grows in bushy clumps in the wild areas of the garden and will also thrive in a woodland garden.

It is ideal for natural or wild gardens, along a path to fragrance the air as you brush past, to flower at the edge of a walkway, or to lighten summer borders. It is also useful for covering the base of roses or in light undergrowth. As it tolerates poor soils and relative dryness well, it can also be planted in a large rockery or mineral garden, or to cover a well-exposed slope.

It naturally finds its place in the herb garden where its fragrance attracts pollinators.

When to plant?

Planting of the calaminth should be done in spring, preferably from February to April in regions where winter is cold and wet, as the roots may rot if planted in autumn or from September to November, after frosts and outside of intense heat.

How to plant?

For group planting: plant the calaminths at 5 plants per square metre and maintain about 50 cm distance between plants to create a beautiful mass effect.

• Loosen the soil well to aerate it and remove weeds
• Dig a hole 2 to 3 times the volume of the root ball
• In heavy soil, improve drainage if necessary with gravel or coarse sand
• Place the plant in the hole and fill with garden soil
• Water
• Discover more planting tips – How to plant perennials?

Calamintha nepeta

Maintenance: watering, pruning, harvest

The calamint is an easy plant that requires little maintenance. It is not afraid of drought or cold. While it tolerates soils dried out by tree roots, provide it with regular watering during the first year. After that, only water in cases of prolonged drought, knowing that flowering may be diminished during hot, dry summers.

Regularly remove faded flowers to encourage new flowering.

When flowering is finished, in autumn or late winter, cut back the clump by about one third and remove all the dry stems: leave the cut foliage on the stump to protect it throughout the winter.

Divide the clumps every 4 to 5 years to rejuvenate the plant.

Harvesting Calamintha

As the leaves of the Calamint are aromatic and possess stimulating and sedative medicinal properties, do not hesitate to harvest them as needed! Do this in June or July just before flowering. You can use them fresh to flavour dishes and desserts, or dry them and store them for use in herbal teas and infusions.

Diseases and potential pests

In terms of diseases, Calamintha is a resilient plant that truly fears only powdery mildew. This is a fungal disease characterised by the appearance of a white, powdery coating on the foliage. Remove the affected parts, water without wetting the foliage, and spray a horsetail decoction.

At the start of the growing season, protect it from slug attacks with our 7 ways to fight slugs effectively and naturally.

Multiplication

The Calamintha is easy to propagate from its seeds harvested in autumn from the garden. Propagation by cuttings is also possible. Dividing the clumps in spring from a plant that is at least 2 years old helps to ensure the plant’s longevity.

By sowing

Sowing Calamintha is done in spring in a warm greenhouse. Follow our tips to successfully sow your perennial plants!

By dividing clumps

This is done on mature clumps that are at least 2 years old.

• Using a fork, lift the clump
• With a spade, take a nice section that includes suckers
• Replant in pots until the offsets are well-rooted before planting them in the garden

Associate

With its simple appearance, Calamintha easily finds its place in all natural and wild gardens, in the romantic beds of a cottage garden, sunny rockeries and Mediterranean slopes, clear woodland edges like in naturalistic meadows, and of course in an herb garden.

A naturalistic association idea in well-drained soil: Eryngium ‘Jos Eijking’, Stipa tenuifolia, Sedum ‘Herbstfreude’, Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Förster’, Coreopsis ‘Full Moon Madness’, Calamintha nepeta, and Verbascum phlomoides ‘Spica’

Its flowering in soft colours makes it essential in scenes of romantic inspiration, to accompany the delicacy of roses, and its foliage helps to hide the often bare base of bush roses. It blends well with clematis, Campanula lactiflora, or the light flowering of astrantia and gypsophila.

Varieties with purple or blue flowers will provide beautiful contrasts with yellow blooms, such as Achillea ‘Terracotta’, Coreopsis, or rudbeckias.

The airy flowering of calamintha pairs perfectly with the silver foliage of Stachys bizanthina and lanata, some Artemisia, mouse ears, Dianthus plumarius, and garden catchfly.

An example of a romantic association: Rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’, Calamintha grandiflora, Salvia nemorosa (‘Mainacht’ for example), Phlox carolina ‘Bill Baker’, and Campanula poscharskyana ‘Stella’

In a wild-looking bed, it will accompany Achilleas, Salvia, hardy geraniums, agastaches, and Phlox paniculata. Dot with a few small tufts of grasses (Stipa tenuissima and pennata, Carex, Briza media…).

Plant it at the front of a border in front of taller perennials that will provide structure and height, such as mulleins (Verbascum) or shrubby salvias, at the base of tall floral spikes of foxgloves, veronicastrum, or large flowers of dahlias, purple coneflowers, and alliums.

As it enjoys full sun and well-drained soils, it will also find its place in a Mediterranean-inspired garden, a dry garden with a mineral predominance, where it can coexist with lavenders, dryland euphorbias, and eryngiums.

In a rockery, it will accompany dwarf wormwoods, erigeron, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, armérias, thyme, or creeping rosemary, carnations, moss phlox, and Campanula muralis.