Catmint, or Nepeta spp., is an impressive flowering perennial, usually blooming from late spring through to late summer. I first fell for catmint a few years back, while working as a gardener in Italy, tending to a sun-drenched gravel garden just outside of Pienza. As you can see in the image below, it was full of silver stachys, flowering cistus, fragrant rosemary and frothy purple clouds of catmint and salvia.
Yet, all of this was low-maintenance and relatively self-sufficient, largely because the right plants had been chosen for the right place. Indeed, these Mediterranean species thrived in the hot and dry garden. In my experience, once you get the conditions correct, catmint really is an easy option for any level of gardener, from beginners to expert horticulturists.
