# what to plant in shallow standing water **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298 "2015-06-11T22:52:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/21 "2015-06-12T23:46:35Z")
This is the easiest “gardening” I ever did. I got four-inch pots, six of peppermint and six of spearmint. It’s hard to see in this [picture](http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab72/EveOz/mint_w_zpsljrzt8jc.jpg), but these pots are standing in about an inch of water that is always there…in the summer anyway when I’m running the a/c all the time. What appears to be a tray is just a frame with no bottom. Does this look okay, **dracoi**? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/22 "2015-06-13T00:15:54Z")
I was going to totally endorse the mint idea. You can put them in much larger pots; they will fill them up quickly. They will love that spot. here’s a recipe since you’ll soon be wondering what to do with all that mint Mint Simple Syrup 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, one cup spearmint leaves (or any equal proportion). Cook the water and sugar to boiling. Take mix off the heat, stir in leaves, cover and let steep an hour or two. Strain out the leaves, store syrup in a clean glass jar in the fridge. Add a couple tablespoons to lime juice and rum for quick mojitos… makes a nice gift too. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/23 "2015-06-13T02:33:48Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I was going to totally endorse the mint idea. You can put them in much larger pots; they will fill them up quickly. They will love that spot. That sounds an awful lot like Real Gardening. :dubious: > [@](#): > > here’s a recipe since you’ll soon be wondering what to do with all that mint > Mint Simple Syrup > 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, one cup spearmint leaves (or any equal proportion). > Cook the water and sugar to boiling. Take mix off the heat, stir in leaves, cover and let steep an hour or two. Strain out the leaves, store syrup in a clean glass jar in the fridge. > Add a couple tablespoons to lime juice and rum for quick mojitos… makes a nice gift too. Yeah, baby. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/24 "2015-06-13T02:34:48Z")
> [@peg4x4](#): > > Cat tails? Hmmm…interesting. I have cats already and they do, in fact, have tails. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/25 "2015-06-13T02:40:00Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hmmm…interesting. I have cats already and they do, in fact, have tails. Sigh. [Typha latifolia.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typha) 😉 They became an invasive pest in my water garden. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/26 "2015-06-13T03:06:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Sigh. > [Typha latifolia.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typha) > 😉 > > They became an invasive pest in my water garden. I knew that. But can you use cat tails to make mojitos? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/27 "2015-06-13T23:24:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This is the easiest “gardening” I ever did. I got four-inch pots, six of peppermint and six of spearmint. It’s hard to see in this [picture](http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab72/EveOz/mint_w_zpsljrzt8jc.jpg), but these pots are standing in about an inch of water that is always there…in the summer anyway when I’m running the a/c all the time. What appears to be a tray is just a frame with no bottom. Does this look okay, **dracoi**? I think that looks great! That level of light should make for very happy mint. I will second **Hello Again** ’s idea that bigger pots will probably serve you well. My mint plant took about four weeks to go from the size of one in your picture, to filling up an 8-inch pot. Some varieties will practically turn into bushes if you let them. And I definitely endorse the mojito idea, though I do mine more traditionally by muddling the leaves. Mint leaves in iced tea is another major use for them at my house. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/28 "2015-06-14T02:26:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That sounds an awful lot like Real Gardening. :dubious: Nah, you just fling 'em in any kind of cheapass planter any which way, pat in some extra bagged soil. Boom! I think my peppermint took a weekend to fill in a 6" pot. Real Gardening ™ is when you decide to take a break from your negligent planticide of Pothos (aka The Easiest Plant in the World™) an round out your mojito garden with a lime tree. Next thing you know you’re talking sagely about Cushiony Cotton Scale and root pruning and zinc deficiencies and mixing your own soil and then one evening you find yourself _testing the ph of your tap water in case the lime tree doesn’t like it_ and you think, “how did I get here?” Don’t ask me how I know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298/29 "2015-06-14T19:03:09Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Don’t ask me how I know. 😃 Sounds to me like you need a koi pond. Don’t ask me how I know. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-plant-in-shallow-standing-water/722298.md?page=1)