Pycnanthemum muticum

Photo courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden

Clustered mountain mint (also known as blunt mountain mint or short-toothed mountain mint) is a tough and adaptable perennial native to meadows and open woodlands across much of the eastern United States and west to Texas. It is not a true mint (Mentha spp.) but belongs to the same family and has similarly scented leaves.

The Perennial Plant Association named Pycnanthemum muticum its 2025 Perennial Plant of the Year. A must-have for pollinator gardens, heads of tiny white to light pink blooms attract butterflies, wasps and bees from July to September. The inconspicuous flowers are upstaged by surrounding silver bracts, which give the illusion of frost in summer and persist for months. Clustered mountain mint has no serious disease issues, and its aromatic foliage is unpalatable to deer and rabbits.

Branched, vertical stems grow 2 to 3 feet tall and form a dense, weed-suppressing clump. Clustered mountain mint spreads by underground rhizomes and can be aggressive in moist conditions, though it is not invasive to the degree of true mints.