Cat's Meow is a catmint that stays neat and rounded all season instead of flopping open. From June into September, branching stems hold sky-blue spikes set in purple calyxes above small, fragrant, gray-green leaves.
At 17 to 20 inches tall and up to 3 feet wide, it fills the front to middle of a sunny border and is handsome in mass plantings. It is drought tolerant, easy to grow and ignored by deer and rabbits, while bees and butterflies work the flowers constantly. Cats may enjoy rolling in it too.
What it looks like
Short spikes of small, tubular, two-lipped flowers in sky blue sit on dusky purple calyxes, spaced along the upper portions of many well-branched stems. The leaves are small, oval to heart-shaped, gray-green, softly textured and scalloped along the edges. The plant forms a dense, rounded mound about 17 to 20 inches tall and 24 to 36 inches wide, keeping its shape without splitting open. At peak bloom the whole mound is covered in a soft blue-violet haze of spikes over gray-green leaves.
Growing it with lavender
Catmint is one of lavender's best partners: it wants the same full sun and lean, well-drained soil, and its sky-blue haze blooms alongside lavender and keeps going after the lavender harvest.
Care
Plant in full sun in lean to average, well-drained soil; once established it handles dry spells with little extra water. Hardy in zones 3-8. Shear the plant back by about a third after the first big flush of bloom to tidy it and push a fresh round of flowers.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Nepeta × faassenii
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Flower color: Sky blue with purple calyxes
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Foliage: Gray-green
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Growth habit: Dense, rounded mound
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Mature size: 17–20 in tall × 24–36 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–8
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Light: full sun
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Bloom start: Early-June
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Peak bloom: Mid-June
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Resistant
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Pollinator value: Excellent
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.