Walker's Low Catmint

Nepeta x faassenii 'Walkers Low'

flower

Walker's Low (Nepeta x faassenii) is not low at all - it makes a billowing 2 to 3 ft mound of small, aromatic gray-green leaves topped for weeks by a haze of lavender-blue flowers. Named Perennial Plant of the Year in 2007, it is a sterile hybrid, so it blooms relentlessly from late spring onward without setting seed, and a midseason shearing brings a whole second flush. The flowers hum with bumblebees and other bees and draw butterflies and hummingbirds, while the minty foliage makes it reliably deer- and rabbit-resistant and very drought-tolerant.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• May Night Salvia — Blue-on-blue early-season pairing that together pull in huge numbers of bees
• Moonbeam Coreopsis — Yellow daisies pop against the lavender haze and bloom on the same long schedule
• Yarrow — Shares the lean, dry, sunny conditions and adds beneficial-insect appeal
• Purple Coneflower — Sturdy uprights rising out of the soft catmint mound, extending the nectar season

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Slugs →

  Can rasp at tender new spring growth in damp conditions - use grit or traps until the plant is established; mature plants are untroubled

• Deer and rabbits →

  Not a problem - the aromatic minty foliage is strongly avoided, making catmint a go-to for browsed gardens

• Few other pests

  Catmint is one of the most trouble-free perennials; good drainage prevents the only real risk, root rot in wet soil

🌸 Blooms & cutting

Walker's Low is a lovely airy filler in the vase - cut stems when the spikes are well in bloom, in the cool morning, and strip the lower leaves. In the garden the essential job is the midseason shear: cutting the plant back by a third to a half right after the first flush fades resets the foliage and brings a strong rebloom that keeps bees fed into late summer. It also dries well for everlasting arrangements.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Catmint is one of the longest-feeding bee plants in the perennial border: its lavender-blue flowers are mobbed by bumblebees, honeybees, and native solitary bees from late spring, and shearing for rebloom keeps that nectar flowing into late summer. Butterflies and hummingbirds visit too. Because it is sterile it pours its energy into nectar-rich bloom rather than seed.