Virginia Mountain Mint

Pycnanthemum virginianum

Pick up a sprig of Virginia Mountain Mint and crush it between your fingers. the clean, sharp spearmint scent is immediate and intense, strong enough to carry several feet on a warm July day. The plant is a midsummer pollinator magnet, its flat-topped clusters of small white flowers visited by more species of native bee than almost any other plant its size. Honeybees, native bumblebees, sweat bees, and a dozen specialist bee species work the flowers from morning to dusk. Painted lady and other nectaring butterflies are regulars. Virginia Mountain Mint thrives in moist, sunny conditions. wet meadow edges, rain garden margins, low spots in the landscape. It spreads by rhizome to form a colony, which in the right spot means a buzzing patch of white flowers and mint fragrance from July through September. Give it room to spread and step back. The silvery-white bracts that surround the flower clusters give the plant a dusted, frosted look from a distance that's distinctive even before you get close enough to smell it.