Walker's Low is the classic catmint, grown for its long summer display of soft blue-violet flowers over gray-green, aromatic leaves. Its long stems arch outward, so a mature plant forms a relaxed mound about 2 to 2.5 feet tall and roughly 3 feet wide.
It is drought tolerant, easy to grow and left alone by deer and rabbits, making it a reliable choice for borders, mass plantings and dry, sunny spots. Bees and butterflies visit it all season, and a mid-season shearing brings on another round of flowers.
What it looks like
Loose spikes of small, tubular, two-lipped flowers in soft blue-violet with a lilac tint are spaced along long, arching stems, set in dusky purple calyxes. The leaves are small, oval to heart-shaped, gray-green, softly textured and scalloped. The plant forms a loose, arching mound whose stems run 2 to 3 feet long but settle to about 24 to 30 inches tall and roughly 3 feet wide. At peak bloom the mound becomes a billowing cloud of blue-violet flowers over gray-green foliage.
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 soft blue-violet 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: Soft lavender-blue
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Foliage: Gray-green
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Growth habit: Loose, arching mound
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Mature size: 24–30 in tall × 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.