Lemon Purrfection is a compact catmint with golden-yellow foliage that holds its color through summer heat. Lilac-blue flowers appear early in the season and keep coming without the plant needing to be cut back.
It forms a dense, polished mound about 10 to 12 inches tall, ideal for edging, containers and the front of the border. In partial shade the leaves shift toward chartreuse. Like other catmints, it is avoided by deer and rabbits and visited by bees and butterflies.
What it looks like
Leaves are small, oval to heart-shaped and scalloped, in a clear golden yellow that stays bright through summer. Short spikes of small, tubular lilac-blue flowers rise just above the foliage. The plant forms a dense, compact mound about 10 to 12 inches tall and 16 to 18 inches wide. At peak bloom the blue-violet flowers make a soft layer over a solid dome of gold 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 lilac-blue haze blooms alongside lavender and keeps going after the lavender harvest.
Care
Plant in full sun in lean to average, well-drained soil and water only during long dry spells once established. Hardy in zones 3-8. It keeps flowering without being cut back, though a light trim in midsummer will neaten the mound.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Nepeta
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Flower color: Lavender-blue
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Foliage: Golden yellow
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Growth habit: Dense, compact mound
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Mature size: 10–12 in tall × 16–18 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.