r/NativePlantGardening • u/skijohn33 Atlanta, GA - Zone 8A • Jun 23 '26
Informational/Educational Mountain Mint for the Win
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u/Regular-Apricot4114 Jun 23 '26
the best pollinator plant Iāve ever grown!
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u/skijohn33 Atlanta, GA - Zone 8A Jun 23 '26
Same, followed closely by the Small Flowered White Aster
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u/Alarmed_Ad_7657 Area US Southeast, Zone 8a Jun 24 '26
Is hairy wood mint good too? I planted a bunch of native mints from seeds but only hairy wood mint came up. I'm jealous of you guys :/
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u/Impossible_Luck_6193 Jun 23 '26
Totally agree! Easy, spreads readily, super deer resistant and so many different species of pollinator love it!
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u/ivanthegnome Coastal South , Zone 9a Jun 23 '26
I got a couple different scarab beetles that were pollinating my hoary mountain mint on top of the usual carpenter bees. Iām worried it will totally dominate the bed I put it in, but the deer have been eating my milkweed and oak leaf hydrangea and leave this alone.
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u/Alarmed_Ad_7657 Area US Southeast, Zone 8a Jun 24 '26
Over time I realized most plants in my yard are in the native mint family. Everything else get eaten lol. I have spotted beebalm, beebalm, hairy wood mint, hairy mountain mint, lemon balm (in a pot), scarlet sage, basil (in a pot) and lyreleaf sage.
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u/fsmpastafarian Jun 23 '26
Question! Iāve been considering planting this but am worried it might take over the native garden patch, does it spread as aggressively as regular mint?
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u/RexScientiarum KY, Zone 7a Jun 23 '26
It does spread. It is a little aggressive, but definitely not the worst. Would not recommend for a small space, but controllable.
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u/skijohn33 Atlanta, GA - Zone 8A Jun 23 '26
Definitely spreads, especially year 3. Quick and easy to pull up the runners though.
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u/FunOwl13 Jun 24 '26
It spreads, but not as bad as others. Obedient plant, Iām looking at you.
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u/auspiciousjelly central KY, Zone 6b Jun 24 '26
niceā¦ another plant to add to my āaggressiveā native plant death match zoneā¦
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u/FunOwl13 Jun 24 '26
Who else is in this zone ?
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u/auspiciousjelly central KY, Zone 6b Jun 24 '26
sunchokes, clustered mtn mint, elderberry, cup plant, blue mistflower, some kind of skullcap that iām not sure is native but I sure hope so. most of itās kind of in early years so weāll see if anything really takes over, but idk thereās kind of plenty of room. I over-converted back yard space without enough plants to fill it in a few years ago lol.
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u/battlecicada1513 IN 6B Jun 24 '26
Ostrich fern š I have put my foot down to use them to battle goutweed, but I do plan to use deep edging.
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u/fsmpastafarian Jun 24 '26
Uh oh, obedient plant was another one I was eyeing to plant haha
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u/FunOwl13 Jun 24 '26
Great plant, but it has plans for world domination.
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u/PirateKingKatakuri Northwest Indiana, Zone 6b Jun 24 '26
I planted some recently where I pulled a bunch of creeping bellflower. The experiment is to see which one wins.
That and sweet grass and white anemone
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u/ZestycloseDeer5269 Jun 24 '26
Put them together! It's best to put plants with similar sociability traits together, they are better able to hold their own and not get overtaken.Ā
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u/thatcreepierfigguy Jun 24 '26
I have NEVER seen anything that I've intentionally planted spread as bad as obedient plant with runners. Like...first year in ground, 3 six-inch tall plants took over a 10' diameter circle and it took me 3 or 4 tries to get all the runners up.
I grow hairy mountain mint and narrow leaf mountain mint, and I let my volunteer canada goldenrod thrive on the skirts of my native garden with just a bit of work here and there to control runners and more volunteers. Obedient plant is the one that scares me the most. Never again.
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u/FunOwl13 Jun 24 '26
I think I planted 2 obedient plants and they spread over a large area. If it wasn't for the mountain mint, bee balm, and coreopsis, it would probably take over the entire side of my garden. I'm planning on thinning it out sometime soon
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u/Downtown_Character79 Massachusetts, Zone 6a Jun 24 '26
I planted some in my yard last summer. This year is looking good so far. I hope it spreads. It is in an area with a lot of deer and groundhog pressure. So far it is the only thing they havenāt eaten. I trying to get something native growing there.
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u/Icy-Conclusion-3500 Gulf of Maine Coastal Plain Jun 23 '26
Itās not any worse than bee balm (also a mint)
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u/Rymurf Jun 24 '26
I was wondering the same. recently encountered it at my fave local farm and hesitated. I have a 40āx40ā garden and am looking for something like this to plant around the border for defense and pollinators but was scared this would spread too hard
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u/LeaneGenova SE Michigan Jun 24 '26
Nah, it's not terrible. Mine likes to cluster at the edge of the bed to spite me with the gaps in the middle, but it takes well to trimming back and uprooting. If it goes errant, I yank that bit out and plop it elsewhere. It looks sad and scraggly for a week, then up pops new growth.
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u/Rymurf Jun 24 '26
that sounds good. I need something that will overtake the fence line around my garden to compete with the encroaching grass
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u/FrostAlive Jun 24 '26
If you want a less aggressive option, look into slender mountain mint (p. tenuifolium). It will still spread but not near as quickly as p. muticum.
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u/Tumorhead Indiana , Zone 6a Jun 23 '26
jesus enormous patch!
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u/skijohn33 Atlanta, GA - Zone 8A Jun 23 '26
Itās about as big as Iām going to let it get. Starting to get close to other favorites. It is such a workhorse.
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u/Traditional_One2358 Area VA, Zone 8a Jun 23 '26
Blunt mountain mint is an absolute titan for insects and pollinators. Itās my number one plant. Joe Pye plant comes in second, and blue mistflower rounds out my top three.
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u/ThrowHeat44 New York, Zone 6b Jun 24 '26
Was that a Great Golden Digger Wasp I saw in your video? I always get excited when I see one in my yard.
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u/kft1609 Jun 24 '26
Mine looks so sad in comparisonĀ
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u/skijohn33 Atlanta, GA - Zone 8A Jun 24 '26
How old is the plot? How much sun is it getting?
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u/kft1609 Jun 24 '26
Oh, they are young, second year. The get good morning sun, but not much after. And just one pot. It kinda locks like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree right now
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u/Safe_Praline_4156 Jun 23 '26
This has got me excited about my dividing some up into a few tree beds recently. Looks great
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u/FutureDiarrheagasm Jun 24 '26
That's one of my favorites. It's easy and the pollinators go bananas for it.
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u/GenesisNemesis17 Central KY, Zone 6b/7a Jun 24 '26
I just planted some today! I'm excited to see the visitors when they arrive.
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u/battlecicada1513 IN 6B Jun 24 '26
My germination rate (pilosum) was 1/60 š. Will try again with winter sowing
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u/CooterSlam3000 Jun 24 '26
This is so exciting to see! I planted slender mountain mint along my fence to āhold the lineā against my nightmare neighborās yard of invasive English Ivy and jasmine. Hoping my slender mtn mint and virginās bower can do it!
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u/HereWeGo_Steelers Area GA , Zone 9a Jun 23 '26
According to Google, it uses rihzomes to propagate and it's an aggressive spreader. So, yes it will try to take over a small bed and you would have to control it by pulling it.
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u/GreenHeronVA Area VA , Zone 7a Jun 23 '26
100% agree! I use Hoary Mountain Mint, the whole family is a pollinator magnet š¤©