Learning to Grow: Uncommon nepetas for your garden

Nepetas are mainstays of many Kane County gardens. The reasons are clear:  A long blooming season, starting in late spring and continuing well into late summer, even fall.

They are rabbit and deer resistant and can withstand intense sun and drought. "Joanna Reed" and "Six Hills Giant," both lavender-blue, have been featured by Chicago Botanic Garden. These blue/purple cultivars are beautiful, but they represent only a small fraction of nepetas in commerce.

Nepeta x faassenii or "Snowflake" is one of the most versatile. It can be used as a pretty specimen, in a grouping, and as an edging plant. Only 14 inches high and about 12 inches across, with snowy white flowers, it is refreshing. I have found that it has a tendency to wind itself around other plants providing a non-invasive ground cover that smothers weeds. Left alone, it will form a beautiful backdrop to your other plants without smothering them. With green gray foliage that appears quite early in spring, and with the ability to rebloom without deadheading, it has become a staple in my garden.

Nepeta  grandiflora or "Dawn to Dusk" is not commonly seen in American gardens, but this selection of nepeta is beautiful enough to serve as a specimen, a plant for the middle of the border and is a superb accompaniment to other shrubs, replacing geraniums. It has sturdy stems, soft pink flowers, and an upright habit. About 23 inches high and wide, it is another nepeta that reblooms regularly if deadheaded and, if desired, you can cut it back by half to completely rejuvenate it.

Nepeta "Sweet Dreams" also is pink but distinguishes itself by presenting dark burgundy floral bracts against large deep green leaves – leaves larger than most nepetas. Eighteen inches high and about 30 inches wide, it has the same long blooming season as other more traditional nepeta.

If you would like to try an uncommon and very lovely blue nepeta, I can recommend nepeta sibirica or "Souvenir Andre Chaudron." A somewhat compact cultivar, growing about 18 inches tall, it has numerous two-lipped medium to deep violet blue flowers on top of square leafy stems. It is also sold as "Blue Bedder."

The addition of one or more of these plants to your garden will result in ease of maintenance and gives it distinctiveness.

• Donna Mack is a University of Illinois Extension master gardener for Kane County. The "Learning to Grow" column runs weekly during warmer months. Call the extension office at 630-584-6166 for more information.