Pycnanthemum muticum - Mountain Mint. Photo courtesy of North Creek Nurseries.
Everyone loves pollinator plants, right? What’s not to love – butterflies, bees, moths and so many others. So, how do you get all these lovlies to your garden? Plant Pycnanthemum muticum, or Mountain Mint, one of the best native nectar sources for native butterflies!
While the pinkish/white flowers in summer are rather small, the showy silver bracts provide the show on this beauty. 2-3‘ tall, Mountain Mint is deer resistant (something many of you are always looking for). Mountain Mint can also be rubbed on the skin as a mosquito repellant – the plant is loaded with pulegone, the same insect repellant found in pennyroyal.
Bright shade or part sun and moist to average soils will keep this Pycnanthemum a happy camper. Full sun works well if there is consistent moisture. While this is in the mint family, Mountain Mint is a clumper and will not show up in unwelcome locations in the garden. Zones 4-8.
One Comment
Not sure about the “clumping” part. This pycnanthemum is not as spreadacious as true mint. but it does send out runners. I was amazed at the variety of pollinators this mountain mint attracts — including many I never see at other plants. Bumble bees and honey bees, of course, but also some enormous, glossy black wasps (which seem to have no interest in humans), honey bee mimics, and lots of very tiny, almost transparent critters I think are also wasps. Plants attracted flying critters for a couple of months in late summer/fall. And still look good now!