Nepeta X faassenii
- Silvery green foliage; provide well-drained soil and afternoon shade.
- Seeds are sterile so it will not spread.
- Attracts bees and butterflies.
- Cut back to 3-6″ after freeze damage but before spring growth.
Faassen’s Catmint (Nepeta X faassenii) One of the most popular catmints, the flowers of this hybrid are sterile, so it doesn’t need deadheading to prevent self-sowing. A number of cultivars of this species are widely available, including ‘Blue Wonder’, 1-2 feet tall, with dark blue flowers, ‘Kit Kat’, a long-blooming, 18 inch tall selection, and ‘Walker’s Low’, with lavender-blue flowers on arching, 2-3 tall stems. ‘White Wonder’ is a white flowered cultivar. ‘Six Hills Giant’ is among the tallest, with 9-12 inch spikes of deep purple flowers on 3-4 foot tall plants.
Most Nepetas are thrifty plants that prosper in average, well-drained soils, and the majority offer deliciously fragrant, gray-green foliage and numerous spikes of small flowers, generally in the blue to purple range. They are durable, hardy, and pest free. Like Catnip, the best-known member of the genus, Nepetas may send felines into a frenzy.
