Hairy Mountain Mint

Pycnanthemum pilosum verticillatum

Walk past a patch of mountain mint on a hot July afternoon and you will stop. The minty fragrance hits before you see the flowers. sharp, clean, and distinctly cooling. Hairy mountain mint covers its white flower clusters with tiny blooms that seem to glow silver-white against the pale, hairy foliage. On sunny days, the plants are alive with insects: bees of every kind, wasps, butterflies, beetles, all feeding together in an open pollinator convention. The hairy variety grows slightly more robust and upright than some of its relatives, topping out around three feet with a spreading habit that fills in beautifully as a mass planting. The foliage stays fragrant and attractive all season. Few native plants can match the sheer density of pollinator activity mountain mint produces during its bloom period.