Nepeta faassenii 'Walker's Low.' (Non-native)

This mounding plant grows to 2 to 3 feet tall and spreads wide with soft crinkly aromatic grey-green 1-2 inch long leaves with strongly toothed margins that hold sturdy upright spikes of deep lavender-blue flowers of a more vivid color than other catmints. The flowers first appear in May and last through July, often with a rebloom lasting until the first frost if the plant becomes pruned back when the initial flowers have faded.

Flowers are attractive to bees, butterflies, and birds, and the plant is not bothered by deer or rabbits, and curiously also not by cats. Plant in full sun to light shade in well-drained soil and irrigate infrequently; this cultivar was introduced into cultivation in 1988 by Four Seasons Nursery of Norwich, England. It was selected in the US as the 2007 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association (PPA). The name 'Walker's Low' is misleading as it is not low-growing catmint; it refers to the garden's word where the plant was initially found, possibly in Ireland. This plant is frequently listed as a cultivar of Nepeta racemose. Still, it is believed to be a hybrid between Nepeta racemose and N. patella - making it more correctly listed as a hybrid without a specific epithet or a Nepeta x faassenii cultivar.

Height: 2'
Spread: 2'
Bloom: May-November
Light: Full sun, Part Sun
Water: Low
Zone:   6, 7, 8, 9
Origin: Northern Iran