Mountain Mint

Mountain Mint is a plant for the environmentalist and the scholar. If you want to know more about pollinators—and see more species than you may have even realized exist in your neighborhood—this is what you plant. As soon as those bracts open, all kinds of pollinators flock to it, and it'll provide them a sweet treat for months on end. It is, in fact, one of the best nectar sources for certain types of butterflies. There are a few things you'll be glad to know Mountain Mint doesn't attract too. Deer tend not to bother it, thanks to its lovely minty perfume, and it contains a chemical that can repel mosquitos. This is a native plant to North America, so you won't have trouble growing it, especially in woodland gardens. It adapts with ease to poor soils and is drought tolerant once established. Be sure to cut some fragrant flowers, either fresh or for a dried bouquet. Pycnanthemum muticum

Gardeners can shy away from this variety because of the word "mint". We get it. Nobody wants a plant that takes over the garden, and Mountain Mint is a strong naturalizer. If you have room to cover and you want a quick, fragrant, lovely solution that won't be put in its place by weeds, Mountain Mint is the way to go. But its name is deceiving—it's not in the mint family at all. In fact, it's much more obedient then mint—if it's naturalizing where you'd rather it not grow, just break the roots on the outside border of the plant in spring.