Budding Mint

My mint plants got attacked by caterpillars this summer. Once I realized what was happening, it felt too late to stop it. And then I left home for 6 weeks and my plants in the care of a friend desperate for a green thumb. The Spearmint withered but held onto a few green leaves; the Pineapple turned brown and I put it in the corner of the garden, its pot and soil to be used again in the spring.

Sometime last week, though, I noticed the Spearmint had sprung new leaves--not my expectation as autumn is fast descending on the city of London. And yet, the little leaves are budding out wherever they can, including new shoots from the soil. It's as if fresh mint green is the must-have fashionable color of the season will all the work that plant is doing.

And then this morning, taking out the compost as you do, I stopped by my mint (and rose, for it's standing taller these days as well) and looked over into the soil of the Pineapple mint: little fuzzy two-toned leaves are climbing from the soil up. The entire plant previously resting above the soil is brown and dry, but somewhere, deep in the root system, something persisted. Something said, let's grow.