Nepeta 'Walker's Low'

Nepeta 'Walker's Low': Lavender Billows Over Every Hard Edge

'Walker's Low' isn't actually low at all, which is the first sign it doesn't follow rules. Long, arching stems of lavender-blue spill over the path, fragrant and humming with bees. MISLEADING NAME. FLAWLESS PERFORMANCE.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Nepeta racemosa 'Walker's Low' (often sold as Nepeta × faassenii 'Walker's Low')
• Common Name: Catmint
• Height: 60–90 cm (2–3 ft)
• Spread: 60–90 cm (2–3 ft)
• Flowers: Lavender-blue spikes on long, arching stems; sterile, so it doesn't self-seed
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Aromatic, soft, grey-green leaves
• Features: Perennial Plant of the Year 2007, RHS Award of Garden Merit, rabbit resistant

Where to Plant: Its loose, billowing habit softens hard edges, so let it spill over a path or the edge of a raised bed, or plant it in drifts through a sunny border. It also suits gravel gardens and dry slopes.

Companion Plants: Use 'Walker's Low' in a sunny, dry bed with electric red pinks, indigo hyssop and tall bluestem. Dianthus Pretty Poppers® 'Electric Red' edges the front with red pinks at 20 to 25 cm from June to September. Agastache 'Blue Bayou' adds indigo spikes at 41 to 46 cm from July to September. Penstemon 'Onyx and Pearls' brings lavender and white tubes on dark stems at about 107 cm in June and July. Andropogon gerardii rises at the back to 120 to 200 cm, turning copper-bronze in fall.

Plant Care: Grow it in full sun and well-drained soil of average fertility. In shade it flowers poorly and flops. Water through the first season, then only during long dry spells. Wet, heavy soil in winter is its main enemy, so improve drainage in clay. After the first big flush of flowers, cut the plant back by a third to a half. It regrows and blooms again. Leave the stems standing over winter and cut them down in early spring as new growth appears. A light shear in spring also keeps it more compact. After four or five years it can look worn in the middle. Dig and divide it in early spring and add some compost when you replant.

History: 'Walker's Low' is a hybrid of Nepeta racemosa and Nepeta nepetella that turned up as a chance seedling in a private garden called Walker's Low and reached the British nursery trade in 1988. It was the Perennial Plant Association's Perennial Plant of the Year in 2007 and holds the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Final Thoughts: Sterile, so no surprise seedlings, and the deer and rabbits keep on walking. Let it spill over a path. THE SIDEWALK NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD.