Calamintha nepeta Weisse Riese - Calamint

Calamintha nepeta 'Weisse Riese' is a small, versatile and undemanding perennial for dry and sunny areas. It produces numerous spikes of tiny white flowers that form a mist above its foliage, from late spring to autumn. Only summer heat and drought temper its generous flowering. Its small, fuzzy, semi-evergreen leaves release a powerful scent of mint mixed with tar when crushed. This plant is beautiful in borders, on a dry stone wall or in containers.

Native to southern Europe and North Africa, Calamintha nepeta is a small rhizomatous plant similar to mint, that is very hardy and drought-tolerant and belongs to the family of Lamiaceae. Its natural environment is dry, rocky places in the mountains, on limestone soil. The 'Weisse Riese' variety has managed to retain the robust character of this fearless little perennial while enhancing it with a more spectacular and longer flowering period. It forms a small bushy clump of 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20in) in all directions when in bloom. Its spikes bear tiny white flowers with a delicate minty fragrance that appear from July to October, sometimes as early as June in mild climates. When care is taken to remove faded flowers, the flowering continues until October, with a brief pause during hot and very dry summers. The foliage consists of small, fuzzy, slightly toothed, greyish-green, oval leaves, loaded with a refreshingly fragrant essential oil.

Calamintha nepeta 'Weisser Riese' is very hardy when grown in dry, sandy or limestone soil, and pleasantly perfumes the garden when planted near a pathway, a stepping stone, or an alley, where it freely self-seeds. On a hot day, its foliage releases a unique scent when gently crushed, reminiscent of the Mediterranean. In a dry garden or on a wall, it can accompany dwarf artemisias, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, thrifts, thyme, or trailing rosemary. In humid regions with heavy soil, it can be planted in a large rockery, a scree garden, paving, or on a well-exposed slope, in front of taller perennials such as mulleins or shrubby salvias.