Shrinking violet of the garden is poised to become a star

Some of the best plants were never meant to be the center of attention.

That’s certainly true of clustered, or blunt, mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), which has many attributes but will never be the star of the garden.

And before readers who have been traumatized by mint completely tune out, let’s get one thing straight: Mountain mint is not a true mint, and it won’t take over your yard with the determination of a Labrador retriever chasing a favorite stick. It is in the mint family, has a lovely minty smell and will spread ... a bit.

Growing 2 to 3 feet tall, mountain mint has small buttonlike flowers with tiny white petals, but the beauty comes from the silvery bracts that surround them. When grown in a sizable grouping, the effect is stunning.

It will never be as flashy as a neon pink Phlox or golden Rudbeckia, but it does make an excellent supporting character to both of those beloved plants and many more.

It will, however, have its moment in the spotlight in 2025, when it is the official Perennial Plant of the Year, as named by the Perennial Plant Association, a group of plantspeople, public garden directors, nursery owners and many others from across the horticulture world.

Unlike other “plant of the year” programs, which are often led by the marketing departments of prominent plant brands, the Perennial Plant of the Year honor is given to outstanding perennials that are suitable for a wide range of growing climates, are low maintenance, have multiple-season interest and are relatively pest and disease-free.

Past winners include plants that have become stalwarts in our gardens including Aralia ‘Sun King’, Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ and Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low.’

For all its beauty, the best thing about mountain mint may be its ability to attract hordes of pollinators. At any given time, I’ll find dozens of kinds of insects on it, from the tiniest important pollinators to large, beautiful and somewhat intimidating wasps.

It is native to most of the eastern United States as far west as Texas, and its natural home is open woodlands and meadows, but mountain mint adapts well to many conditions found in home gardens, including clay soil. It grows in full sun to part shade and requires no maintainance other than removing the dead stems in early spring.

It does spread by rhizomes, but in a most mannerly way, typically only to about two feet wide. Just give it a little space to stretch out when planting. If I had to pick a nit, I’d say that it occasionally flops, but you can use this to your advantage by planting it near more upright growing perennials and allowing it to mingle in its neighbor’s stems.

Mountain mint isn’t one of those plants you notice driving by a garden, but when visitors walk through mine, it is invariably one of the plants they ask about.

But I think that’s all about to change. Mountain mint is about to get a lot more popular.