Mint Lemon

If you cannot decide between mint and lemon, this settles it. Often sold as eau de cologne mint, this is a true mint with the vigour and dark glossy leaves of a peppermint, but crush one and you get lemon and lavender rather than menthol.

It is quite different from lemon balm, which is grassy and sweet. This is sharper and more perfumed, and it makes a remarkable fresh tea, muddles beautifully into a summer drink, and lifts a fruit salad.

Grow it in a pot. Like every true mint it travels by underground runners and will colonise a border given the chance. A container by the kitchen door keeps it where you want it and close to hand.