Giant catmint

Value to bees

Nectar

Very high

Pollen

Moderate

As a honey crop

Not a honey source

Which bees, and why

Among the most reliably bee-covered plants in any garden, and worked continuously from late spring to autumn. The mint-family solitary bee specialists use it heavily, and wool carder bees defend patches of it aggressively against other bees.

Small two-lipped flowers with a short tube and a lower landing lip — accessible to a very wide range of bees.

Worth knowing

An outstanding nectar source over one of the longest seasons of any garden perennial.

Flowering

In flower

May to October (northern hemisphere)

A first flush from May, with further flushes to October if cut back after each.

Growing it

Conditions

Full sun with free drainage. Drought-tolerant once established and short-lived on heavy wet clay.

Size

60-90 cm tall and spreading to a metre.

Native range

The Caucasus, Turkey and Iran. The garden forms are selections and hybrids.

Suits

Small gardens, Large gardens, Containers and window boxes, Walls and fences

• Cut back by two-thirds after the first flush and it flowers again within weeks — repeat through the season.
• Sharp drainage matters more than fertility.
• Cats roll in it and flatten it, which is worth knowing before planting it at the front of a border.

What it looks like

A sprawling clump of small aromatic grey-green leaves smothered in loose spires of small lavender-blue two-lipped flowers over an exceptionally long period.