Draine: Lovely catmint variety nabs perennial honors

By Cathie Draine | Friday, March 23, 2007

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There is great news for anyone who enjoys beautiful, fragrant, tough, long-blooming beautifully mounding perennials.

“Walker’s Low” catmint has been named Perennial Plant of the Year for 2007. Those of us who grow and cherish this fine plant wonder how we ever lived without it. Those who have avoided growing members of the mint family because of their rather profligate spreading behavior are encouraged to take a second look at Walker’s Low.

This plant was selected in an Irish garden in the 1970s and introduced to the gardening public in the late 1980s in England. To be named Perennial Plant of the Year a mere 10 years later acknowledges its fine appearance, performance and reputation in the garden.

Its name describes its place of origin rather than its size. Plants grown in this area regularly form a mound with a 36-inch spread and a height of 24 to 36 inches.

Its upright arching stems are covered with densely packed, small, dark blue flowers in late spring. When the blooms begin to fade, cut the plant back by a full two-thirds to just above the rosette of second-growth leaves in the crown of the plant. The plant will then bloom a second time in late summer. If you don’t cut back the woody stems and reshape the plant as part of the fall work, be certain to do that in the early spring because the new growth (from the crown) appears early.

Because it is a mint, the small, rather wrinkled leaves are sweetly aromatic, and the flowers are a magnet for bees and butterflies. It is described as a plant does not attract deer or rabbits. Because we have found nothing the deer won’t eat, I’d approach that concept with caution.

This mint is also promoted as sterile. I have not found that to be the case. Although it does not spread with the intent of the Mongol hordes, early each summer I find some baby plants, obviously from fertile seed.

It is easy to lift and pot these to take to the Plant Swap in late May or give to friends. A tiny spring plant matures quickly to full size by midsummer. Their very discreet reseeding is easy to tolerate.

Walker’s Low thrives in full sun in organic, loamy soil and is equally happy in our garden shaded by two pine trees. As with any perennial, thoughtful soil preparation before planting and regular, moderate watering produces a happy and healthy plant.

It is a nice addition to a perennial border, in rock gardens, herb gardens and also as a limited ground cover. Walker’s Low’s rather relaxed, open form makes it welcome in borders where it is a fine companion with other plants — shrub roses, varieties of coreopsis, salvia, short ornamental grasses and others. We have found that is a lovely cut flower in a mixed bouquet.

All the greenhouses will have Walker’s Low catmint this year. Start with small plants and mulch well between them so the area looks tidy when you cut the plants back. This area of mulch also makes it very easy to identify the babies in the spring. Remember to leave them plenty of room to dazzle with their 3-foot, bloom-covered spread.

If ever there was a plant well suited to this area, Walker’s Low is it. If you don’t already have some in the vegetable or flower garden, try to find a place for it. It’s a happy plant.

Cathie Draine is a member of the South Dakota State University Co-operative Extension Master Gardeners and the Garden Writers’ Association. She lives and gardens in Black Hawk. She may be contacted at cathiedraine@rap.midco.net.