Chocolate Mint (Mentha × piperita) is a hardy, easy to grow herb for both indoor or outdoor gardens & containers. It can tolerate direct sun and a lot of moisture making it great for beginners since one of the most common issues with newbie gardeners is over watering. Besides the fact that this plant is easy to maintain & has a lovely chocolaty mint aroma, it's lush leaves in an ombre of bright green & deep purple provide an interesting back drop for your fairy gardens! Another great aspect of using herbs in your fairy gardens is that, for the most part, you have full control over how tall and broad in diameter your plant will get. The four ways you can control this is by pruning, harvesting, separating clones, & choosing the right container or area in your garden to start creating your little fairy landscape. PruningIf your mint plant is less than a year old it is likely that you will not need to do much pruning unless you want to prevent the plant from blooming. I talk more about this below. After the first year you can cut the plants back several times in a growing season. This would be especially significant if your are wanting to maintain a desired look in your fairy or miniature garden and you need to prevent the foliage from over running your little accessories & landscape structures. To prune during growing season just take a sharp pair of garden shears & snip the stem right above the node (little notch where the leaves grow in at) in a downward diagonal cut. How much you decide to trim is totally up to you but make sure not to cut off more than half of the plant at a time. If the plant is only 8" tall then you would want to avoid trimming more than 3"- 4" of each stem. When growing season has come to an end and it's time for your final harvest cut the entire plant to within an inch or two of the ground. Cutting back your mint before winter is an essential part of preventing fungal or pest related diseases, such as anthracnose, that would otherwise overwinter in the plants. Harvesting your MintSometimes you can luck out and get a light harvest from your mint during the 1st year, but it’s usually best to wait until the following year right before the herb blooms (July to August). You want to be sure that you pay close attention to buds indicating when the plant is about to flower because after it blooms you will definitely have cute lavender flowers, but you will miss out on some of the potency and the leaves will be less fragrant and flavorful. When you do see buds appear, you can simply pinch them off or cut back the tops of the plants to stop them from blooming. Growing Mint in the Garden vs. ContainerMint is an aggressive spreader and can quickly over take your garden. Consider growing mint in a raised garden bed or in a place where it can thrive without interfering with the rest of your landscape. Regularly pruning & harvesting your mint plant will help curb it's aggressive growth. Another really awesome idea for an over abundance of chocolate mint in the garden is to separate the new plants and gift the mint transplants to your family, friends, & neighbors! A baby chocolate mint transplant or cutting can be started in just about any size container but once it begins to grow you will want to find a pot that measures at least 8 inches in diameter and is roughly 10 to 12 inches deep. Avoid shallow containers; mint has a very robust root system and will need plenty of room to fan out. PropagatingPropagating mint is an easy way to turn one mint plant into many. All you need for this is a cutting from a mint plant, garden shears or a sharp knife, a glass, and water. When choosing the stem you will use watch out for the new growth that is sort of towering over the rest of the mint. These lanky sprouts will quickly & easily root to create new mint plants. The new stems that sprout out from the mother plant will eventually turn 'woody'. What you are looking for is a stem that looks fresh. (See the image below) With a sharp blade or garden shears, cut the mint cuttings at a downward angle right BELOW a node (the point on the stem where leaves emerge). Ideally you will want to cut 1/3 of the way down the stem right before the next 'notch'. You will want to keep at least half the stem in tact to promote new growth on the mother plant. Once you have made your cut, you will need to remove the leaves on the bottom nodes. This is done because you will later submerge the cuttings into water for rooting, we do not want the leaves to rot. All that is now left is to fill a glass up with water and submerge the exposed nodes into the glass. For your cuttings to root, place in an area with strong indirect light such as a window sill or shady porch. In just a few days, you will begin to see baby roots sprouting out from these nodes. Normally after 7-10 days, your mint cuttings will grow roots long enough for planting. It's usually best to wait for the roots to reach about 1 -2 inches long before introducing them to their new homes! To begin growing your new mint plants, fill a container with well draining potting soil or a soilless peat-based potting mixture that also contains perlite or vermiculite, poke a hole in the middle, place in your cutting & then water well. Be sure in the beginning to keep the cutting moist while they adapt to growing in the soil.  Notice the contrast between the 3 propagated cuttings above. The cutting on the fair right has exactly what we need. It is 4" tall & the bottom of the stem is not woody, it has a reddish beige, almost translucent quality.
|
| - Essential Oils - Natural room freshener - Dry leaves for teas or potpourris - Tinctures (alcohol based) - Garnishes for desserts, dishes, & cocktails - Flavoring for cakes, ice cream, icing, & cookies - Steeped in hot beverages like hot chocolates & lattes |  |
Fun Fact:
The name derives from Minthe or Menthe, a water nymph in Greek mythology, who was transformed by Persephone into a mint plant in revenge for Minthe's ongoing affair with Hades (husband of Persephone)
Do you have interesting facts about chocolate mint? Let us know down in the comments...or you can just tell us how much you love chocolate mint!
Resources:
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org
5 Comments
 | SCALE: In a NutshellA scale represents proportional dimensions and is used to reduce or increase in size according to a common scale that is consistent. In the world of fantasy, fairy gardens in particular, the rules are not as strict as they would be in let's say a realistic dollhouse or train model. |
The fairies themselves are a contradiction to scale in that their surroundings could in fact be much larger or smaller than the fairies themselves. In a fairy garden the rules can be bent and whether or not you want to bend those rules is entirely up to you, your the designer, your the artist. As a designer I want to help you make that decision as accurately as possible.
There are 5 more popular scales that I am going to discuss below.
There are 5 more popular scales that I am going to discuss below.
1:6 Scale
I am beginning with this scale because it is the largest of the 5 that I will talk about but honestly I personally rarely ever work in this scale for dollhouse or fairy garden miniatures although I may consider making miniature food in this scale in the future. The 1:6 scale also known as "Playscale" or "Fashion Doll" scale (or more commonly know is the scale for Barbies) means that 1" inch is equal to 6" inches. A better way to put it, for the sake of keeping this as simple as possible, 2" inches in Playscale equals 1' foot in real life.
EXAMPLE: A house in the real world has an average of 10-12 feet per story. So a one story Barbie house would be 20-24 inches tall in the 1:6 scale.
- 10 foot house would be 20 inches tall
- 6 foot bed would be 12 inches long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 2" by 4" inches
- 6" inch (or 1/2 foot) glass of water would be 1" inch
The 1:6 scale would work great in an outdoor garden without a doubt although I personally have not seen many fairy figurines or accessories in this scale but if you were looking for dollhouse miniatures in this scale I don't think you would have too much difficulty at all.
EXAMPLE: A house in the real world has an average of 10-12 feet per story. So a one story Barbie house would be 20-24 inches tall in the 1:6 scale.
- 10 foot house would be 20 inches tall
- 6 foot bed would be 12 inches long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 2" by 4" inches
- 6" inch (or 1/2 foot) glass of water would be 1" inch
The 1:6 scale would work great in an outdoor garden without a doubt although I personally have not seen many fairy figurines or accessories in this scale but if you were looking for dollhouse miniatures in this scale I don't think you would have too much difficulty at all.
1:12 Scale
The 1:12 scale also referred to as the "Dollhouse Scale" or the "1 Inch Scale". The 1:12 scale is not always used for dollhouses but it is the more prominent scale. What this ratio means is that 1' Foot in real life would be scaled down to 1" in the dollhouse world.
EXAMPLE: A house in the real world has an average of 10-12 feet per story. So a one story dollhouse would be 10-12 inches tall in the 1:12 scale.
- 10 foot house would be 10 inches tall
- 6 foot bed would be 6 inches long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 1" by 2" inches
- 6" inch (or 1/2 foot) glass of water would be 1/2" inch
The 1:12 scale is a good choice for outdoor garden scenes because it is still small enough to create a great fairy garden but not so small that you have to worry too much about your miniatures being blown away or carried of by some critter in the night. For a 1:12 scale potted miniature garden you would need a pot with a 20" diameter or larger to create a fairy landscape if you plan to include a house with plenty of accessories and still allow room for the base of your plants. Just to give a general idea.
EXAMPLE: A house in the real world has an average of 10-12 feet per story. So a one story dollhouse would be 10-12 inches tall in the 1:12 scale.
- 10 foot house would be 10 inches tall
- 6 foot bed would be 6 inches long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 1" by 2" inches
- 6" inch (or 1/2 foot) glass of water would be 1/2" inch
The 1:12 scale is a good choice for outdoor garden scenes because it is still small enough to create a great fairy garden but not so small that you have to worry too much about your miniatures being blown away or carried of by some critter in the night. For a 1:12 scale potted miniature garden you would need a pot with a 20" diameter or larger to create a fairy landscape if you plan to include a house with plenty of accessories and still allow room for the base of your plants. Just to give a general idea.
1:24 Scale
The 1:24 scale also referred to as the "G Scale" or the "Half Inch Scale" is common in garden scale railways or model trains, the Playmobil accessories, and some niche markets of dollhouse miniatures. What this ratio means is that 2' Feet (or 24 inches) in real world will be scaled down to 1" inch. The 1:24 scale is precisely half the size 1:12 dollhouse scale, hence the nickname Half Inch Scale. Virtually all of my fairy miniatures at Tinker Treasures are in this scale.
EXAMPLE: To compare we will use the same scenario with the house above. A one story dollhouse would be 10-12 inches tall in the 1:12 scale but in the 1:24 scale that house would be exactly half the size which would be 5-6 inches tall. Each foot in the real world equals 1/2 inch in the miniature world.
- 10 foot house would be 5 inches tall
- 6 foot bed would be 3 inches long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 1/2" by 1" inch
- 6" inch or 1/2 foot (.5") glass of water would be a mere 1/4" inch (.25")
1:24 scale could work well in a small outdoor flower bed or garden as well although you may want to make sure that your figurines and other accessories have metal picks to secure them in place. For potted miniature gardens I would estimate that the diameter of the container should be around 10-15" in diameter or larger for a complete scene including the house and landscape.
EXAMPLE: To compare we will use the same scenario with the house above. A one story dollhouse would be 10-12 inches tall in the 1:12 scale but in the 1:24 scale that house would be exactly half the size which would be 5-6 inches tall. Each foot in the real world equals 1/2 inch in the miniature world.
- 10 foot house would be 5 inches tall
- 6 foot bed would be 3 inches long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 1/2" by 1" inch
- 6" inch or 1/2 foot (.5") glass of water would be a mere 1/4" inch (.25")
1:24 scale could work well in a small outdoor flower bed or garden as well although you may want to make sure that your figurines and other accessories have metal picks to secure them in place. For potted miniature gardens I would estimate that the diameter of the container should be around 10-15" in diameter or larger for a complete scene including the house and landscape.
1:48 Scale
The 1:48 scale also referred to as the "O Scale" or the "Quarter Inch Scale" is also a standard for model trains just a smaller version. This scale is also popular among gamers when creating their figurines and dioramas. What this ratio means is that 4' Feet (or 48 inches) in the real world will be scaled down or represented by 1" in miniature world.
EXAMPLE: (Everything is divided by 4)
- 10 foot house would be 2.5 inches tall
- 6 foot bed would be 1.5 inches long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 1/4" by 1/2" inch
- 6" inch glass of water would be a mere 1/8" inch
I really don't recommend this scale for outdoor gardens although it might work for a potted plant maybe on a deck or near the house where it would be sheltered from wind and rain. However this scale can work great for larger terrariums and indoor house plants!
EXAMPLE: (Everything is divided by 4)
- 10 foot house would be 2.5 inches tall
- 6 foot bed would be 1.5 inches long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 1/4" by 1/2" inch
- 6" inch glass of water would be a mere 1/8" inch
I really don't recommend this scale for outdoor gardens although it might work for a potted plant maybe on a deck or near the house where it would be sheltered from wind and rain. However this scale can work great for larger terrariums and indoor house plants!
1:144 Scale
The 1:144 scale also referred to as Micro-Miniature is commonly the smallest scale that artists and manufacturers choose to work in. When you see language like "tiny" "micro" "itty bitty" more than likely this is the scale we are looking at. Since I am not a big fan of math I can also admit this is my least favorite scale when determining measurements for items that are typically already very small to begin with. ( I love CREATING micros but math is not my strong point at all) Needless to say I keep a cheat sheet for micro miniatures. In the simplest terms 1:144 or 1' foot = .083" or just short of 1/12th of an inch.
EXAMPLE:
- 10 foot house would be .83 inches tall (Also can be thought of as 13/16 of an inch which is just over 3/4 of an inch)
- 6 foot bed would be 1/2 inch long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 2/25" by 1/25" inch or .083" by .04" (Essentially were talking millimeters here)
- 6" inch glass of water would be a mere 1/100" inch or .01" (This is an estimate but we are practically building a microorganism here...not really but it kind of feels that way)
To put 1:144 scale into perspective, if your 1:12 scale doll had a dollhouse of her/his own than this would be the scale of your dolls dollhouse.
Micro Miniatures are perfect for small terrariums and air plants. They can also be used in small fairy jar dioramas, snow globes etc.
EXAMPLE:
- 10 foot house would be .83 inches tall (Also can be thought of as 13/16 of an inch which is just over 3/4 of an inch)
- 6 foot bed would be 1/2 inch long
- 1' by 2' foot picture frame would be 2/25" by 1/25" inch or .083" by .04" (Essentially were talking millimeters here)
- 6" inch glass of water would be a mere 1/100" inch or .01" (This is an estimate but we are practically building a microorganism here...not really but it kind of feels that way)
To put 1:144 scale into perspective, if your 1:12 scale doll had a dollhouse of her/his own than this would be the scale of your dolls dollhouse.
Micro Miniatures are perfect for small terrariums and air plants. They can also be used in small fairy jar dioramas, snow globes etc.
Determining YOUR scale
Hopefully I have been able to help you understand scale a little better so that you feel prepared to go out there and start building your miniature worlds! It's very difficult sometimes to shop for miniatures online and there is nothing worse (from personal experience) than hand picking your favorite minis in excitement only for you to be disappointed when your items arrive and they were not what you were hoping for!
The best way to determine your scale and avoid my mistake is to plan ahead. The first thing to do is figure out where your miniature garden is going to go. Measure the area or pot that you are going to use. If you already know where you are going to build your garden and you already have a collection of figurines that you are going to use you can use them as a foundation for all the other accessories you will need.
Measure one of your accessories like the figurine or the house and then use the guide above to figure out which scale matches your accessories best. Then as you shop for the rest of the things apply the same scale to those items.
Make a list of the things you want to get and then measure or estimate the size of those items in real life and then convert them to your scale. That way you can't go wrong.
The best way to determine your scale and avoid my mistake is to plan ahead. The first thing to do is figure out where your miniature garden is going to go. Measure the area or pot that you are going to use. If you already know where you are going to build your garden and you already have a collection of figurines that you are going to use you can use them as a foundation for all the other accessories you will need.
Measure one of your accessories like the figurine or the house and then use the guide above to figure out which scale matches your accessories best. Then as you shop for the rest of the things apply the same scale to those items.
Make a list of the things you want to get and then measure or estimate the size of those items in real life and then convert them to your scale. That way you can't go wrong.
If you want to read a bit more about scale and see some of the other scales that I have not mentioned here I will link an article that goes into a bit more detail HERE
