Many gardeners assume a perennial will reliably return year after year, but harsh winters and unpredictable weather can sometimes have other plans. If you're looking for a plant that's tough, dependable and difficult to get wrong, catmint deserves a spot in your garden. Also known as nepeta, this long-flowering perennial produces pretty purple blooms for months and thrives with very little attention, earning it a reputation as one of the easiest plants to grow.
'I truly love nepeta,' says landscape designer Katherine Aul Cervoni, founder of Staghorn NYC and The Cultivation by Kat. 'Catmint ticks so many boxes for me: minimal maintenance, tolerant of extreme temperatures, water-savvy, super long bloom time, beautiful colour, pollinator magnet, excellent filler, and good in a container or in the ground.'
Catmint can be used beautifully in many different garden settings, including as edging, foundation plantings, as a ground-cover, or part of a mixed border. 'It’s an incredibly versatile perennial,' says Chuck Pavlich, director of new product development with Terra Nova Nurseries. 'It’s also easy to care for and isn’t particularly picky about soil.'
To learn more about how to grow and care for catmint, check out the care tips below.
Catmint plant facts
- Common name: Catmint
- Botanical name: Nepeta faassenii, Nepeta hybrid
- Family: Lamiaceae
- Sun exposure: Full sun to part shade
- Soil type: Average to slightly heavy soil
- Mature size: 14 to 18 inches wide by 6 to 36 inches tall
- Native area: Asia
- Pet toxicity: Temporary neurological effects in cats; not toxic to dogs
Types of catmint
There are many different types of catmint, including:
- ‘Walker's Low’: A favourite of landscapers, with purple-blue flowers and fine-leafed foliage.
- ‘Junior Walker’: An earlier bloomer, with a structure that stays tidy.
- ‘Lemon Purrfection’: Stays about 10 inches tall and has lemony-yellow foliage and purple flowers that appear earlier than many other varieties.
- ‘NOVA Blue’: Has bright lavender-purple flowers and stays short and tidy all season, so it makes an excellent ground-cover.
- ‘Purple Haze’: Has silvery foliage and purple-blue flower spikes that resemble butterfly bush.
- ‘Blue Dragon’: Has huge blue flowers that look like tiny dragon’s heads.
- ‘Cat’s Pajamas’: A very long-blooming variety with indigo blue flowers from the soil to the tips. After the blooms drop, rosy purple calyxes continue to provide colour.
How to grow catmint
Settled on the catmint you'd like to grow? Take a look at our essential care tips:
Sunlight: Catmint needs full sun, which is considered six or more hours of direct sunlight per day. The more sun, the better, because if the plants get too much shade, it tends to get leggy and underperform, says Katherine.
Water: The plant is drought-tolerant once established, making it a water-wise solution. Make sure not to overwater, however, or the plants can get soft and mushy, says Chris Fifo, product representative for Darwin Perennials.
Soil type: Catmint isn’t fussy about soils and will tolerate anything from sand to clay. But avoid wet areas, which may cause legginess or root rot, says Katherine.
Fertiliser: Nepetas aren’t heavy feeders but benefit from a spring application of a slow-release, balanced granular fertiliser. Apply a second time if you desire a second (or third) flowering period, says Chuck.
Deadheading
Many plants can benefit from deadheading, the common gardening practice of snipping off spent blooms. But that’s not necessary with catmint. Catmint will keep blooming for weeks and weeks on its own without intervention.
However, if you’d like the plant to push a second large flush of flowers, cut it back right after the first set of blooms fades, and give it a boost with a slow-release fertiliser, says Chuck.
Pruning
After the growing season, you can trim the plants back or leave catmint alone until spring. 'I like leaving the foliage for overwintering insects and wildlife habitat,' says Chris. 'Then I do a bit of cleanup of dead foliage in the spring as you see new growth sprouting.'
If you prefer a tidier look in autumn, cut back upright types after a hard frost so that they’ll show only fresh stems and foliage in the spring. However, short, ground-cover-type catmint rarely needs to be cut back in autumn. 'They remain evergreen in a fair number of climates, so there’s little to do,' says Chuck.
For hands-off gardeners, it’s fine to leave catmint alone to do its thing. 'You don’t have to cut back because the plants remain attractive even when not in full bloom,' says Fifo.
Common problems
Catmint is particularly carefree and rarely has issues. 'I’ve never seen any diseases to speak of,' says Katherine. 'They’re very tough to kill!'
In addition, few insect pests bother catmint. Occasionally, 'thrips can cause damage, leaving little white dots on top of the foliage, as they take the plant nutrients from the underside of the leaves. Their damage is usually not enough to worry about,' says Chuck.
Is catmint toxic to pets?
Catmint is related to catnip (Nepeta cataria). Both plants contain nepetalactone, though catmint contains less of this chemical.
'Cats ‘high’ on nepeta exhibit behaviours similar to female cats in heat,' says Tina Wismer, DVM, senior director of toxicology at ASPCA Poison Control. 'The effects last for 10-15 minutes, then the cat returns to normal behaviour.'
Thus, technically, nepeta is toxic, as it causes neurologic signs, but it is not deadly and will not cause any lasting issues, says Tina.
Dogs are not affected in the same way, but they can experience potential GI upset from ingesting catmint, warns Tina. Call your vet if you are concerned about your pet nibbling on this (or any) plant.
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