Purrsian Blue is a compact, tidy catmint that stays neatly rounded instead of sprawling. In its first year it forms a small, dense ball; by the second year it widens to just over 2 feet while staying 14 to 18 inches tall.
Flowers are set close together on the stems, so it blooms heavily: periwinkle blue in dark purple calyxes from early summer into early fall. It is low-maintenance, drought tolerant and deer and rabbit resistant, and it makes a good edging or container plant.
What it looks like
Small, tubular, two-lipped periwinkle-blue flowers sit in dark purple calyxes, packed closely along short spikes just above the foliage. The leaves are tiny, oval, green to gray-green and scalloped on densely branched stems. The plant forms a compact, rounded mound about 14 to 18 inches tall and 18 to 30 inches wide. At peak bloom the mound is solidly covered in blue-violet spikes.
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 periwinkle-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: Periwinkle blue with dark purple calyxes
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Foliage: Green to gray-green
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Growth habit: Compact, rounded mound
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Mature size: 14–18 in tall × 18–30 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.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
