Types of Catmint by Size

Buy the habit, not the blue on the tag. Ornamental catmint ('Walker's Low', 'Junior Walker') is not N. cataria. Compact path plants are not 'Six Hills Giant'. Sort 15 Nepeta here. Sun, lean soil, and shearing stay on How to Grow Catmint.

Choose catmint vs catnip, then size

Classic garden catmint mounds — Walker's Low, Junior Walker, Cat's Meow. Lean sun; shear after the first flush. 'Walker's Low' is the catalog standard — grey-green mound, lavender-blue spikes, shear after bloom. 'Junior Walker', 'Cat's Meow', 'Cat's Pajamas', and 'Purrsian Blue' stay lower for a path. Tall types including Six Hills Giant — space 24–30 inches; shear so they do not flop. 'Six Hills Giant' wants 24–30 inches of space. Nepeta cataria — the herb cats want; weedy white flowers, not a tidy border mound. N. cataria is the herb: white flowers, looser habit, stronger effect on cats, more likely to self-sow.

• Walker’s Low is often listed as racemosa and sold as faassenii-type catmint. Treat it as a mid-size ornamental mound, not as catnip.
• Faassenii hybrids are sterile — they do not seed a carpet. Cataria does.
• Hot, humid summers: compact types hold shape better than a giant left unsheared in rich soil.
• A mixed six-pack with no height: split them so a giant does not sit in front of a 12-inch dwarf.

Wrong catmint buys that look like a types page

• Catnip as a rose skirt — N. cataria sprawls and self-sows. Use 'Walker's Low' or 'Junior Walker' under roses.
• Six Hills Giant on a narrow path — 'Six Hills Giant' is a back-row plant. It will flop onto the walk if you treat it like 'Cat's Pajamas'.
• A 12-inch dwarf behind peonies — 'Cat's Meow' and 'Little Trudy' belong at the front. Height on the tag beats a pretty blue photo.
• Buying “nepeta” because cats like it — ask for cataria if you want the herb. Ornamental catmint is milder.
• Expecting seed from Walker’s Low to match — sterile hybrids do not come true. Divide, or buy plants.

What height and habit offer

Compact faassenii mounds. 'Junior Walker', 'Cat's Pajamas', 'Cat's Meow', 'Purrsian Blue', and 'Little Trudy' edge a path or a container. Same lean sun as Walker’s Low; less stake work. Proven Winners: Cat’s Meow is a dense, flop-resistant mound; Cat’s Pajamas is a dwarf with color down the stem.

Walker’s Low and racemosa mats. 'Walker's Low' is the mid-border default (often 24–30 inches wide — the name is a place, not a height). Low racemosa mats such as Blue Wonder — path edge, still not catnip. 'Blue Wonder' sits lower. Shear both after the first flush. They are still catmint, not catnip.

Tall types. 'Six Hills Giant' and related grandiflora / sibirica plants need room and an early shear so the center does not open. Do not plant them as a 12-inch edging.

True catnip. N. cataria is the herb. Site it where cats can roll it, or skip it in a formal front border. White flowers, not the lavender haze on the catmint tag.

Height on the tag beats a pretty photo. Compact path plants stay about a foot to 18 inches. Walker’s Low is a wider mid-border mound — the name is a place in England, not a dwarf. Six Hills Giant is a back-row plant that needs 24–30 inches. Cataria is the herb with white flowers. If the tag lists only “blue nepeta,” ask which of those four you are buying before you commit a rose skirt or a path edge.

Sterile faassenii hybrids do not seed a carpet; cataria does. A mixed tray without heights is three jobs in one pack — split them at planting so a giant does not sit in front of a 12-inch dwarf. Open Care for sun, lean soil, and the shear. Open Planting for spacing.

• Walker’s Low / faassenii / Junior Walker → ornamental catmint mound.
• Six Hills Giant / grandiflora → tall.
• Cataria / catnip → the herb.
• Blue Wonder / racemosa → lower mat.
• Generic “perennial nepeta” → still ask catmint vs catnip, then height.

Planting distance lives on Planting Catmint. Partners on Catmint Companion Plants.

Full catalog by class (15)

Browse all catmint by group. Groups follow habit — compact mound, low racemosa, tall, true catnip — not a hardiness system. Open Care or Planting for method. Confirm height on the tag before you hang a giant on a path or tuck a dwarf at the back of a rose bed. If two cards share a blue chip and not a habit, they still want different spacing and a different shear. Nervosa types are finer accent spikes on the same lean sun — not a fourth watering genus. Govaniana and other odds sit in Other until you read the profile for height. A West Coast silver leaf or a yellow govaniana is still this genus; it is not a reason to water like a hosta. Confirm the Latin before you duplicate a slot you cannot shear from the path later.

Faassenii compact (6)

Classic garden catmint mounds — Walker's Low, Junior Walker, Cat's Meow. Lean sun; shear after the first flush.

Racemosa low (1)

Low racemosa mats such as Blue Wonder — path edge, still not catnip.

Grandiflora tall (4)

Tall types including Six Hills Giant — space 24–30 inches; shear so they do not flop.

True catnip (1)

Nepeta cataria — the herb cats want; weedy white flowers, not a tidy border mound.

Nervosa accent (2)

Nervosa types — finer accent spikes, same lean sun.

Other nepeta (1)

Other Nepeta not in the main habit groups.