Light
Full sun to part shade. More sun means more silver and a tighter plant.
Growing guide · Perennials
Pycnanthemum incanum
How to grow Hoary Mountain Mint.
Every pollinator in the county, one plant.
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Water
- Low
- Zones
- 4–8
- Size
- 2–3 ft tall, 3–4 ft wide
- Spacing
- 3 ft apart. It fills out to 3–4 ft wide.
- Pets
- Not pet-safe; keep out of reach
Water
Water weekly the first summer. After that it handles dry spells without help.
Planting and soil
Plant in spring or fall in average to lean, well-drained soil. No amendments needed.
Feeding
None.
Pruning
Cut back by a third in early June if you want a shorter, bushier plant. Leave the stems over winter and cut them down in early spring.
Through the year
New growth in spring. Silver bracts by early summer. Blooms July into September. Seed heads through winter.
If something's off
Few problems. In rich, wet soil it flops and spreads faster; pull runners at the edge in spring to keep it in bounds.
Plays well with
Plant it with friends.
Dusted silver, mobbed by bees.
An eastern native mint whose top leaves look brushed with frost, setting off small lavender-tinged white flowers from summer into fall. It draws more kinds of bees and wasps than almost anything else you can plant. The leaves smell strongly of mint, which is why deer leave it alone.
Why we stock it: The silver top leaves look good for months, and the pollinator traffic beats anything else in the bed.
Hoary Mountain Mintfrom $21.99 · Arrives alive, or we replace it
Hoary Mountain Mintfrom $21.99 · Arrives alive, or we replace it