[Boomer]

This is a really specific question so I realize it is a long shot to ask it, but I thought I would try anyway.

I am getting ready to do some landscaping here in our Ohio yard. I have been doing a little homework. I like an English cottage garden look, but I want it heavy on purple, pink, and white. A little yellow can be tucked in here and there. (Yellow makes pink pinker, you know. And pink returns the favor.) I do not want plants that are going to make demands on me. My plants need to tolerate hot, humid summers, resist deer, and give me a decent bloom time. I like them to be a little wild-looking, a little splashy. So anyway, I am working on it. It is getting to be almost time to start digging.

A plant guy suggested Walker's Low Nepeta. It does look like something that will do what I want it to do. It was the 2007 Perennial of the Year. That's usually a good sign. It was not Miss Congeniality. It was the winner.

But here's the problem. This plant with this fancy name is called catmint, too. The guy who told me about it has it in his own yard and really likes it. He swore to me that it does not attract all the neighborhood cats to roll around, feeling groovy in the flowerbeds. (Wait! Wait! I have nothing against cats. I just do not want to do all this work and find that I have created a feline version of Woodstock.)

This plant works in Zones 3-8 so I thought there might be a chance that somebody reading this has it in the yard and can tell me if it attracts cats. Some of the offical looking press on the plant says that it does not. But then I found some other stuff that made me think well, maybe. Does anybody out there have it?

Here's a link that tells you all the other stuff about Walker's Low Nepeta.

http://www.flower-gardening-made-eas...-the-year.html

Thanks.

Boomer

[Whalen]

Last year my neighbor & I did a mixed hedge that was heavy on purple.
I know we had 3 types lavender and Russian Sage, and I think we had catmint. The hedge looked lovely, dried the lavender and made sachets,
(had a Martha Moment) and the honey bees loved it.
Didn't notice any of the neighborhood cats doing Hendrix imitations.
Hedge was on Long Island, similar zones.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by Whalen

Last year my neighbor & I did a mixed hedge that was heavy on purple.
I know we had 3 types lavender and Russian Sage, and I think we had catmint. The hedge looked lovely, dried the lavender and made sachets,
(had a Martha Moment) and the honey bees loved it.
Didn't notice any of the neighborhood cats doing Hendrix imitations.
Hedge was on Long Island, similar zones.

Thanks Whalen,

I really do want to use this one. I will be using Russian Sage, too.

Purple Hedge Hendrix Cats "Purple Haze" (Well, just in case, I won't be putting any outside speakers in those flowerbeds. That's for sure.)

Boomer

[Boomer]

Whalen,

Do you remember how much bloom time you got out of it? I will gladly prune the heck out of a plant if it means more blooms.

Thanks.

Boomer

[katezbox]

Hi Boomer,

We had it in our garden in Connecticut. It was almost maintenance free, bloomed from June through early October and did not attract cats... even when our Mademoiselle Claudie was in the window. As those who know her will attest, MC (who is French and also known as Lady Marmalade) is a feline of uncommon attractiveness.

The almost part of maintenance free is that it will spread and can be separated and planted in bare areas.

Kate

[Boomer]

This is such good news. It looks like my kind of plant. Sounds like a decent length for the bloom time. And the part about dividing it is OK, too.

I divide stuff and give it to anybody who wants it. But my last house, which had a really big yard, started to look like a daylily farm and I could not get them all divided. So the rule was that anybody who wanted to dig 'em could have 'em. And those plants went forth and multiplied some more. And then I moved and I swore that I would never plant anything close together again. I was in my "instant gratification" gardening phase when I did the daylily thing.

I understand that this plant spreads but does not become invasive like some called mint do. It must do a lot of things right to have won the prize for perennials. But I was pretty concerned about the possiblity of the neighborhood cats having a love-in or something. Glad to hear it is not a problem. My geriatric dog would probably get a new lease on life though.

I wonder if catmint shows up in Florida, too, considering that it tolerates heat so well.

I have an ornamental grass named Carly Rose (might be Karly) -- anyway the bloom lasts for a really long time during the same period it looks like. It is not a huge ornamental grass but not a tiny one either. Something tells me those pink plumes would look really good backing up the purple Nepeta. (I sure wish the weather would get warm around here. I am so ready to dig.)....and then throw a big splash of limelight hydrangea in with its bright green blooms and all that pink and purple and step back!!! (I am so ready for Spring.)

Boomer

[barb1191]

Boomer....

How about lilac bushes (colorful and aromatic) and forsythia? Perrenials and very popular in New England; two of my favs as they really are low maintenance and yet so beautiful.

barb

[Boomer]

Hi Barb,

You are so right about those forsythia. One of the first things to bloom around here and I am always happy to see them. This winter has been particularly dreary and cold.

I had a Korean lilac bush and it was pretty. Well, pretty most years. But every once in a while that whole blooms on old wood or blooms on new wood thing would escape me and I would prune it at the wrong time of year. The poor thing would have to spend a barren, boring season because I went crazy with the Felco 2 pruners before I remembered not to.

Boomer

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Hi Barb,

You are so right about those forsythia. One of the first things to bloom around here and I am always happy to see them. This winter has been particularly dreary and cold.

I had a Korean lilac bush and it was pretty. Well, pretty most years. But every once in a while that whole blooms on old wood or blooms on new wood thing would escape me and I would prune it at the wrong time of year. The poor thing would have to spend a barren, boring season because I went crazy with the Felco 2 pruners before I remembered not to.

Boomer

Boomer, you are a hoot! Geez, hope that Mr B wasn't with you when you "went crazy with the Felco 2 pruners." Oh well, I guess by now he knows enough to stay away from "the bride" when she's pruning, huh?

Did I say that?

[Whalen]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Whalen,

Do you remember how much bloom time you got out of it? I will gladly prune the heck out of a plant if it means more blooms.

Thanks.

Boomer

Guess we planted at the right time, didn't have to prune at all, purple all summer into fall.
And did I tell you how the honey bees just loved our hedge?

[juneroses]

The attached link is a discussion among gardeners about Walker's Low Nepeta. They all agree it is a wonderful plant, but several do find that the cat heads for it, given a chance - June

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...556499.html?29

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by juneroses

The attached link is a discussion among gardeners about Walker's Low Nepeta. They all agree it is a wonderful plant, but several do find that the cat heads for it, given a chance - June

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...556499.html?29

Thanks for the link. This sounds like a great plant, and I really want to use it, but I think I will start with a bed that is a distance from the house. That way I can see the color splash but maybe not see the smashed parts if a cat comes along and tries to get groovy.

It looks like many people do not have the problem, but there are a few it seems. That one person in the link said there was a cat with a glazed look in its eyes. I guess it just depends on the cats in the 'hood.

I had not seen any cats at all around the neighborhood. Not a cat anywhere in sight. No evidence of a cat. Until today. Really. Today. Just today, for the first time. I saw evidence of a cat. I saw some little footprints across my hot tub cover. And you know what? Those little footprints gave me paws for thought.

Here's why:

I used to write these TOTV posts from my kitchen. But now my computer is in a room that is nearly all windows. Windows to the left of me. Windows to the right of me. Windows in front of me. AND......you got it. Windows behind me.

So now I am wondering, in fact I am beginning to think it must be so, considering those cat footprints, on the hot tub cover, on that hot tub that is out there BEHIND ME!!!! Do you think that looking in that window, that window behind me, reading through that window, over my shoulder, reading about my big plans to plant Walker's Low Nepeta, aka CATMINT.....Do you think there could have been, ohhhhh, nooooo, a peeping tomcat?? A PEEPING TOMCAT!!!

Boomer

[katezbox]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Thanks for the link. This sounds like a great plant, and I really want to use it, but I think I will start with a bed that is a distance from the house. That way I can see the color splash but maybe not see the smashed parts if a cat comes along and tries to get groovy.

It looks like many people do not have the problem, but there are a few it seems. That one person in the link said there was a cat with a glazed look in its eyes. I guess it just depends on the cats in the 'hood.

I had not seen any cats at all around the neighborhood. Not a cat anywhere in sight. No evidence of a cat. Until today. Really. Today. Just today, for the first time. I saw evidence of a cat. I saw some little footprints across my hot tub cover. And you know what? Those little footprints gave me paws for thought.

Here's why:

I used to write these TOTV posts from my kitchen. But now my computer is in a room that is nearly all windows. Windows to the left of me. Windows to the right of me. Windows in front of me. AND......you got it. Windows behind me.

So now I am wondering, in fact I am beginning to think it must be so, considering those cat footprints, on the hot tub cover, on that hot tub that is out there BEHIND ME!!!! Do you think that looking in that window, that window behind me, reading through that window, over my shoulder, reading about my big plans to plant Walker's Low Nepeta, aka CATMINT.....Do you think there could have been, ohhhhh, nooooo, a peeping tomcat?? A PEEPING TOMCAT!!!

Boomer

Ohhh noooooooo..... maybe cat mint is not the answer meow meow meow

(that is my Tom cat - Tommy - saying Boomer, you are a hoot!)

[Whalen]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Thanks for the link. This sounds like a great plant, and I really want to use it, but I think I will start with a bed that is a distance from the house. That way I can see the color splash but maybe not see the smashed parts if a cat comes along and tries to get groovy.

It looks like many people do not have the problem, but there are a few it seems. That one person in the link said there was a cat with a glazed look in its eyes. I guess it just depends on the cats in the 'hood.

I had not seen any cats at all around the neighborhood. Not a cat anywhere in sight. No evidence of a cat. Until today. Really. Today. Just today, for the first time. I saw evidence of a cat. I saw some little footprints across my hot tub cover. And you know what? Those little footprints gave me paws for thought.

Here's why:

I used to write these TOTV posts from my kitchen. But now my computer is in a room that is nearly all windows. Windows to the left of me. Windows to the right of me. Windows in front of me. AND......you got it. Windows behind me.

So now I am wondering, in fact I am beginning to think it must be so, considering those cat footprints, on the hot tub cover, on that hot tub that is out there BEHIND ME!!!! Do you think that looking in that window, that window behind me, reading through that window, over my shoulder, reading about my big plans to plant Walker's Low Nepeta, aka CATMINT.....Do you think there could have been, ohhhhh, nooooo, a peeping tomcat?? A PEEPING TOMCAT!!!

Boomer

O my Boom, and it's not even after midnight and it sounds like you're starting to ...meow meow meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooow

[Boomer]

Well, I did not see that peeping tomcat looking in my windows today. And I did not see his footprints either. But it was raining most of the day so he was likely somewhere warm and dry. I will not be lulling myself into a false sense of security anytime soon.

I really appreciate all the help with this big decision. I will have catmint somewhere in my yard I know. Maybe not close to the patio, but somewhere out there it will be.

While we are in here hanging out in this gardening thread, I wanted to pass along a link to an absolutely wonderful gardening site that I think you might like, too. Here it is:

http://www.provenwinners.com/

Boomer