The Perennial Plant Association has announced Nepeta faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ as the 2007 Perennial Plant of the Year. Nepeta is in the mint family and has the common name catmint. Most nepeta are thrifty plants that prosper in average, well-drained soils. They offer fragrant, gray-green foliage and numerous spikes of small flowers in the blue to purple range. They are durable, hardy, and resistant to deer. Cats love them!
‘Walker’s Low’ has gray-green foliage with one to two inch soft lavender-blue flowers. The spikes of flowers are produced over a long period in early through midsummer. Although its stems are two to three feet tall, the plant’s arching habit brings the height down to eighteen to twenty-four inches if it is not staked. It is hardy in zones three to eight.
When the stems are broken they release an aroma like all catmints that tends to attract cats. Butterflies and hummingbirds are also attracted to ‘Walker’s Low’ nectar but the mint scented foliage keeps deer and rabbits away.
‘Walker’s Low’ provides color nearly all summer making it useful in flower borders as a tall edging or in the middle of a flowerbed. It can take the hot summer temperatures and low moisture doesn’t affect it. The stems can be brought indoors to use as a filler flower in bouquets.
Deadheading after the first blooming stimulates it to rebloom until frost. Shearing in the springtime will promote a more compact growth habit. It has few pests or disease problems.
The plant is propagated by divisions in the spring or by terminal cuttings in the summer. The plants are sterile so it cannot be started by seed.
The name, ‘Walker’s Low’, does not refer to the plants size but to the garden where it was discovered. Patricia Taylor found it in an Irish garden by the same name in the 1970s. It was introduced by Four Season Nursery of Norwich, England in 1988. Look for Nepeta faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ this spring in your local garden centers and give it a try. Your cat will love you for it!
