Spotlight: Mountain Mint

Blunt Mountain Mint

Mountain mint is a great plant for the native garden or cut flower grower! I’m getting out my pom poms today for this one because I think everyone could use a little patch of mountain mint in their life!

My favorite variety of mountain mint (pictured above) is Pycnanthemum muticum also known as blunt mountain mint. Native to the eastern United States, it gets lovely purple flowers that the pollinators just love!

Mountain mint is a tough plant and easy to grow once established. It likes well-drained soil and often does best at the edge of woods. It can handle full to partial sun. While much better behaved than other non-native mints, it does spread by rhizomes to form colonies and can spread its seed. It is typically 2-4 feet wide and about 3 feet tall but can get taller. Seedlings benefit from “pinching” (cutting the growing tip above a set of leaves) when about 12 inches tall to encourage branching. This one is good in a more naturalized area where it can get a little wild!

With a light mint fragrance, mountain mint is typically resistant to deer and rabbits. The leaves can be used for tea, either fresh or dried. As a cut flower, mountain mint is great foliage in a mixed bouquet with a long vase life and great fragrance.

Mountain mint is less commonly sold in retail settings, but certain varieties can be found at local nurseries or online retailers that specialize in native plants. If you live in the Clarksville or Nashville, Tennessee area, we have seedlings available for sale in the spring and seeds available in the fall!