Hairy Wood-mint

Year-round

Hairy wood mint is a native woodland perennial for the Pittsburgh area. It wants light, dappled shade and soil that stays a little damp, and it slowly fills in a small patch without taking over the bed.

• Give it part sun to light shade, like under a tree canopy or on the north or east side of the house, not full all-day sun.
• Keep the soil steadily moist, especially the first year. Rich soil with some leaf litter mixed in helps it settle in.
• It is in the mint family but it does not run wild like garden mint. It spreads slowly by underground stems into a small colony over a few years, so give it 10 to 18 inches of room.
• Deer tend to leave it alone because of the strong minty smell in the leaves.

Its slow, well-behaved spread and neat woodland habit make it an HOA-friendly pick for a shaded side yard or foundation bed.

Fall

Blooming winds down in early fall and the plant starts settling in for winter.

• Let the last flowers go to seed if you want the patch to slowly fill in on its own, or trim spent stems back for a neater look.
• Leave the foliage standing into fall. It dies back naturally once hard frosts arrive.
• Fall is a good time to divide an established clump if you want to start a new patch elsewhere, since the underground stems are easy to see and separate.

Winter

The plant dies back to the ground and spends winter dormant underground, well within its cold hardiness for this area.

• It dies back completely and overwinters as roots underground. There is no foliage to protect or maintain.
• Leaving the dead stems and surrounding leaf litter in place over winter shelters the crown and any overwintering insects. Clean up in spring instead.
• Pittsburgh's zone 6a to 6b winters are well within this plant's cold hardiness, which is rated down to USDA zone 3, so no extra winter protection is needed.

Spring

Spring is when new stems push up from last year's roots and the plant is getting established for the season.

• New shoots come up from the base in mid to late spring. Pull back heavy leaf litter over the crown so they can push through easily.
• Keep the soil moist as the weather warms. This plant struggles if it dries out early in the season.
• A light layer of leaf mold or compost around the base in spring feeds it the way the woodland floor naturally would.

Fresh spring growth in a shaded bed reads as tidy, intentional planting rather than overgrowth.

Summer

Summer is bloom season, with whorled white to pale purple flower clusters that draw in bees.

• Flowers open in stacked rings up the stem from around June into August, white to pale blue-purple with small darker spots.
• Bumblebees and other native bees are the main visitors to the blooms through summer.
• Watch soil moisture during hot, dry stretches. The part shade means it needs less watering than a full-sun garden mint, but do not let it go bone dry.