Design

‘Smokey Mountain Mint’ Offers a Twist on a Beloved, Tough-as-Nails Native Perennial

Fine Gardening – Issue 221

If you’re a fan of mountain mints (Pycnanthemum spp., Zones 3–9), you’re in for a treat. This native hybrid selection is a pollinator magnet with gray-purple foliage, silvery-growing tips, and a pleasant minty fragrance. It’s a blooming machine from early summer to frost. With silver bracts and bract-like leaves surrounding the white, lavender-spotted flower clusters, its smoky purple foliage creates a striking contrast. ‘Smokey Mountain Mint’ is a vigorous clumping perennial that pairs beautifully with other summer bloomers.

‘Smokey Mountain Mint’
mountain mint

Pycnanthemum × incanum ‘Smokey Mountain Mint’

Zones: 4–9

Size: 24 inches tall and wide

Conditions: Full sun; average, well-drained soil

Native Range: North American native hybrid

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SOURCES

Intrinsic Perennial Gardens introduction

 

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