Thursday, March 26, 2020

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 11: narrow leaf mountain mint

I give you the most popular pollinator plant in my gardens, narrow leaf mountain mint:



This becomes quite large as it matures and drapes beautifully over the edges of my terraced bed. The tiny white/pinkish flowers are abuzz with activity for months. Every kind of bee there is gravitates to this plant. If you’re aiming to provide bee forage, plant lots of this. I aim to put it down by the bee hives so they can get to it even more easily.

It’s a delicate, subtle plant but when you see how popular it is, it becomes quite dramatic in the garden, a real show stopper.

More info:

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (Narrowleaf mountain mint)
Cressler, Alan 

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium Schrad.

Narrowleaf Mountain Mint, Slender Mountain Mint, Common Horsemint

Lamiaceae (Mint Family)

Synonym(s): Koellia flexuosaPycnanthemum flexuosum

USDA Symbol: pyte

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)

This stiff, erect, compact, clump-forming mint has narrow leaves subtending the flower clusters. The minty-smelling plants are 20-30 in. tall and have terminal flower clusters composed of numerous, small, two-lipped corollas varying from whitish to lavender, with purple spots.

2 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

Another pretty plant. I'm going to have to see if any of the ones you've show cased will grow up here.

billie said...

I’m wondering if there’s a good website for native pollinators in your area... wildflower.org is a good resource and might be a useful place to start. I’ve not done a consistent job with my “more info” of offering where the plants are native to. Many are entire eastern coast if I’m recalling correctly.