Nepeta sibirica ‘Souvenir d’Andre Chaudron’

Description

Nepeta sibirica ‘Souvenir d’Andre Chaudron’

(N.’Blue Beauty’). Nepeta sibirica ‘Souvenir d’Andre Chaudron’ has relatively large flowers of a good blue-mauve on open spikes, produced over a long period gives Nepeta sibirica ‘Souvenir d’Andre Chaudron’ a look more of an Agastache than a catmint.It has a quite different growth habit than plants such as N.faassenii and N.’Six Hills Giant’ in that it doesn’t have the dense crown and lax stems. It has a spreading habit, throwing up vertical stems with long, toothed, triangular leaves that lack the felty rugosity of its brethren. Good ground cover. 45cm.

‘If you set it, the cats will eat it,

If you sow it, the cats don’t know it.’

This old rhyme refers to the belief that cats will always go for a transplanted catmint, but often ignore a plant grown from seed in situ. It probably stems from a transplanted plant being more bruised and therefore releasing more scent. Whilst cats love the scent, rats abhor it and it can be used as an effective rat deterrent.

With the exception of the yellow flowered Himalayan Nepeta govaniana, which is yellow, the catmints are all a gentle blue or white and create a similar impression in the garden to a large lavender. They form low to medium sized mounds of often grey-green foliage that produces a mass of spikes of lavender blue flowers that are highly attractive to bees. They all prefer a well-drained site in full sun where they will be happy for years. Simply trim back the foliage when the flower spikes begin to look untidy and again in Spring.

Whilst all of the Nepeta are referred to as catmints, the species that the name correctly refers to is Nepeta cataria. It has a particularly minty aroma and is particularly attractive to cats. Nepeta x faassenii and Nepeta grandiflora have a similar minty smell to the leaves, with Nepeta govaniana having a smell all of its own. Nepeta subsessilis is another matter again; lovely in flower, but with foliage that smells like the cat died under it.

Nepeta derives its name from the town Nepete (now Nepi) in Italy where Catmint was once extensively cultivated.

The flowers are held in distant verticillasters, rather similar to Salvia. One of the features that distinguishes this genus is tThe 15 ribbed nature of the corolla tube.

Catmint has an old reputation both for seasoning and medicinal uses. It has been smoked in the past on account of its supposed mild hallucinogenic properties. It was said that the root chewed made even a gentle person fierce and quarrelsome. In fact, one English hangman could never bring himself to perform his duties without first chewing catnep.