Tip #7: Catmint (Nepeta faassenii)
Rounding out the list is Catmint, a rugged, sprawling beauty that delivers waves of soft purple-blue color. To achieve an all-season bloom without deadheading, it is essential to choose modern, sterile cultivars. Varieties like ‘Walker’s Low’ and ‘Cat’s Pajamas’ are bred specifically so they do not produce viable seed. Because they cannot complete their reproductive cycle, these plants continuously push out new flower spikes over their aromatic, gray-green foliage from late spring until the weather turns freezing.
Catmint is an outstanding problem-solver for tricky garden areas. It functions beautifully as a large-scale ground cover, tumbling elegantly over retaining walls, softening harsh concrete walkways, and filling awkward gaps between shrubs. It gives you the classic, romantic look of English Lavender but is vastly easier to grow, particularly in regions with cold, wet winters where lavender often struggles to survive.
Adaptable to USDA Zones 3 through 9, Catmint is fiercely hardy and highly drought-tolerant once its roots are established. Depending on the specific cultivar you choose, it can remain a compact 12 inches tall or mound up to a substantial 3 feet across. Give it full sun and well-draining soil. While you absolutely do not have to deadhead it for continuous blooms, if the plant ever looks slightly untidy in the blazing heat of late August, you can shear the whole mound back by a third; it will quickly rebound with fresh foliage and another intense flush of flowers.
