Catmint - Nepeta. Pollinator & Lavender Companion Plant

Spring 2027 preorder. Ships bare-root. Local delivery plants will be potted.

You will receive a rooted catmint cutting propagated from established Walkers Low plants growing here in our Upper Peninsula garden.

The original plant was a division given to me as catmint/Nepeta rather than as a named cultivar. Because the cultivar was not identified, I am selling these simply as Catmint - Nepeta and describing them based on how they actually perform in our garden. But it does resemble Walker's Low. 

Catmint is one of those plants that fits almost anywhere: around lavender, in pollinator gardens, along borders, in cottage-style plantings, or anywhere you want soft gray-green foliage and purple flowers without a fussy plant.

Why We Grow It

• Excellent pollinator plant
• Long-lasting purple flower spikes
• Attractive gray-green foliage
• Works especially well around lavender
• Useful as a front- or middle-of-border plant
• Softens the edges of paths and planting beds
• Handles dry conditions well once established
• Can be trimmed after flowering to encourage fresh growth and additional bloom
• Returns year after year
• Grown successfully in our Upper Peninsula garden

Bees really work the flowers when these plants are in bloom - just check out our video of a bee in a frenzy going from bloom to bloom. The purple flower also pairs naturally with lavender without competing with it.

A Good Lavender Companion

We especially like catmint planted near lavender.

The foliage and flower color complement lavender well, but catmint has a softer, looser growth habit that helps fill space around more structured lavender plants. Catmint will add color in the garden to fill the void of later-blooming lavender.

It is also useful where you want a flowering perennial that can handle the same kind of sunny, well-drained location lavender prefers.

What You Receive

Shipped orders: One healthy rooted cutting, shipped bare-root.

Local delivery: One rooted cutting planted in a nursery pot and ready for planting.

The plant you receive will be smaller than the mature plants shown in our garden photos. Once established, catmint develops into a fuller spreading mound and produces many flowering stems.

Growing Conditions

Light: Full sun is best. It will tolerate some partial shade, but flowering may be lighter.

Soil: Well-drained soil

Water: Water regularly while establishing. Mature plants are relatively drought tolerant.

Growth habit: Mounding to spreading herbaceous perennial

Bloom: Early summer through summer, often with additional bloom after trimming

Flower color: Lavender-purple

Foliage: Soft gray-green

Pollinators: Especially attractive to bees

Garden position: Front or middle of the border, depending on spacing and surrounding plants

Hardiness: Catmint is generally very cold hardy, but because the exact cultivar is unknown, I prefer to describe this one based on its proven performance in our Upper Peninsula garden rather than assign a cultivar-specific hardiness range.

Pruning and Rebloom

After the first major flush of flowers begins to fade, catmint can be trimmed back.

This helps tidy the plant, encourages fresh foliage, and can produce another round of bloom later in the season.

You do not need to prune it constantly. We grow it as a relaxed garden perennial and let it develop naturally between trims.

From Our Garden

The mature catmint shown in the photos is growing here at Pause Lavender Farm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

We use it among lavender and other pollinator plants because it adds a softer layer of purple bloom, fills garden space well, and attracts plenty of bee activity when flowering.

It has also proven itself as an easy-care perennial in our northern garden.

The photos on this page show our actual plants growing at Pause Lavender Farm - not stock photography.

Price

$6 per rooted cutting

Local delivery plants will be potted. Shipped plants will be sent bare-root.