50
Behind my garden of native plants, one scrappy perennial holds its own among the tangle of goldenrod stalks and blackberry brambles.
Its swaying flowerheads buzz with a throng of insects: golden digger and great black wasps, bumblebees, sweat bees, butterflies, and beetles.
This pollinator magnet is mountain-mint. It hails from the same family, Lamiaceae, as the “true” mints commonly planted in herb and kitchen gardens, and it shares their characteristic minty aroma and taste.
