A valuable perennial that tumbles across paths, softening planting by providing clouds of long-lasting blue flowers. There are 250 species of the genus Nepeta and is one of the largest in the mint family.
They are good companion plants with roses and allium.
The flowers are popular with bees and butterflies. Very attractive to insects of all kinds.
They make useful cut flowers. Most bloom from June onwards.
Nepetas are extremely frost hardy.
- They prefer sunny or at least open, bright conditions.
- Prefer good drainage – especially in winter.
- Bushier kinds can be cut back by two thirds after flowering to promote new growth.
- The spreading grey-leaved types are good front-of-border plants. They are more reliable than other plants in grey and silver borders, and look great along gravel paths
- Easy to propagate by division in spring.
- Bushier kinds can be split into large numbers of small rooted pieces.
- They can also be rooted from cuttings of young shoots
I planted a catnip into the back patch under the big cherry tree (close to the path by the wood border). It is close to the newly planted flowering mallow – both planted late summer 2019.
Small clump of catnip planted to the front of the purple mallow in the back patch. (15 May 2020)
Philosophising... 