We have a Mountain Mint Farm. What started as a couple plants of Pycnanthemum Muticum, commonly known as Mountain Mint, is now a bumper crop in our garden bed near the pond. Bring it on, I say, because with the spread of mountain mint comes swarms of pollinators – bees and lots of butterflies.
Mountain mints are aromatic plants with dramatic grey-green foliage and a distinctive minty scent. In late summer, the tiny white flowers produce copious amounts of nectar attracting a huge number of pollinating insects.
The plant prefers full sun, but it’s not picky. Wet or dry soil works. It can spread like wildfire but it attracts the pollinators you want in your yard. Without pollination, many plants and flowers won’t grow, but once a honeybee gets a whiff of this highly aromatic plant, he makes regular visits, along with all his buddies. The very first year we planted Mountain Mint, there were bees taking numbers to be able to sip nectar from this highly aromatic plant.
Last summer, Nancy observed a striking bee-like creature feeding on our patch of Mountain Mint. The black and white bee with purple wings was a wasp – a Mason Wasp. They are found in the Eastern part of the United States in mid- to late summer, a frequent visitor to nectar producing plants such as goldenrods, snakeroots, and mountain mint. The striped wasps are solitary creatures and build mud chambers where they stuff their kill – caterpillars, spiders, and the like. They also lay an egg in each chamber which pupates and later becomes an adult wasp.
Once again, I’d like to heartily recommend the Short-Toothed Mountain Mint to fellow gardeners and conservationists because it’s easy to grow, deer can’t stand it, it’s drought and heat resistant and it attracts all kinds of pollinators. Plant anytime and watch the bees enjoy it.
