Nepeta nervosa Blue Moon Seeds - Catnip

Underrepresented in our gardens, Nepeta nervosa 'Blue Moon' deserves to be sown. This perfectly hardy perennial, also known as Catmint 'Blue Moon', has deeply crinkled, downy, slightly aromatic leaves. All summer long, it produces an abundance of dense, cylindrical spikes with small, blue to purple flowers. Fast growing, it flowers the same year after being sown. This bushy variety is spectacular in borders, rock gardens and pots. It thrives in well drained soils, withstands drought and grows in the sunny positions.

Nepeta nervosa is a bushy perennial plant native to the province of Kashmir. Like other catmints, it is a plant of the mint family (Lamiaceae) and is slightly aromatic, containing essential oils that give off its distinct fragrance. A few weeks (12 to 16 weeks) after sowing, the 'Blue Moon' variety forms a small, 35 cm compact bush, covered with deeply crinkled, bluish-green foliage. Its long summer flowering period lasts from June to September. The plant produces spike-shaped inflorescences, densely packed with small, bilabiate flowers of a very bright purplish blue that attract many pollinating insects.

The beauty of its foliage, the generosity of its blooms and its compact habit make Nepeta 'Blue Moon' a must-have for dry gardens and very easy to grow in flowering pots. It is superb in rock gardens or on low walls, which it covers with a silvery moss and then with a layer of discreet but charming flowers, just like Aubrieta or Dalmatian bellflowers. Nepeta nervosa Blue Moon' is a remarkable, easy-to-grow garden plant, which will also find its place in flowerbeds, at the foot of yellow roses such as 'Buff Beauty' or orange-pink roses such as 'Westerland', where it will hide their sometimes unsightly bases. It can also be combined with yellow Turkish sage, false dittany, fuchsia or red baby sage in flowerbeds and borders.