Product Field NotesCompanion Plants
Tall Tails Catmint: An Upright Blue Cloud Beside Your Lavender
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Tall Tails catmint is a large catmint that brings height and structure to a sunny planting. It reaches 28 to 32 inches tall and about 3 feet wide, and its upright framework is noticeably stiffer than older tall catmints, so it holds its shape instead of flopping open by midsummer.
Long spikes of soft lilac-blue flowers in dusky purple calyxes open early in the season and keep coming for a long stretch.
Tall Tails at a glance
| Trait | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Nepeta 'Tall Tails' |
| Flowers | Soft lavender-blue spikes in dusky purple calyxes |
| Foliage | Gray-green, scalloped, minty-herbal when brushed |
| Size | 28 to 32 inches tall, 36 to 40 inches wide |
| Bloom | Starts early June, peaks mid-June, high rebloom |
| Hardiness | USDA zones 3 to 8 |
| Light | Full sun |
| Wildlife | Excellent for pollinators; deer and rabbit resistant |
One of lavender's best partners
If you could pick only one companion for lavender, catmint would be a strong candidate. It wants the same full sun and lean, well-drained soil, it handles dry spells once established, and deer and rabbits leave both alone. The flowers are similar in color, so the bed reads as one long wave of blue-violet.
Tall Tails adds something compact catmints cannot: height. Use it behind a row of shorter English lavender, or alternate the two along a long border, giving each plant room so air keeps moving. It opens in early June, often before the lavender, then blooms alongside it, then keeps flowering after the lavender has been cut. Bees barely notice the handoff. Plan the rhythm in the Companion Plant Planner.
Care through the year
- Soil: lean to average and well drained. Rich soil makes catmint floppy, even a sturdy one.
- Water: water while it establishes; afterward it needs little extra.
- Shearing: after the first big flush, cut back by about a third to a half. Fresh growth and repeat flowers follow into fall.
- Problems: few. Root and crown rot in wet soil is the main risk, with occasional mildew or leaf spot in humid, crowded plantings.
- Winter: very hardy in Michigan when drainage is good. Leave stems standing over winter and cut back in early spring once new growth appears.
A note for cat households: brushing the foliage releases a pungent, minty-herbal scent, and some cats will want to inspect it personally.
Where else it works
Tall Tails fills the middle of a border, anchors mass plantings and suits dry, low-water gardens. It is a fine choice for cottage gardens and pollinator plantings near beehives, too; the Beekeeper Tools page has more on planning for bees.
Plug trays or bare root
Tall Tails is offered as a 72-cell plug tray and as a bare root plant. See each product page for current availability, or the Wholesale Hub for tray and bare root orders.
Frequently asked questions
Is catmint the same as catnip?
They are related, but this is an ornamental catmint grown for flowers, not for eating.
Do the flowers smell like lavender?
No. The flowers are not notably scented; the fragrance is in the leaves.
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