Usually be the time the color is mostly gone from the blooms, new basal foliage has sprouted on my Walker's Lows. I cut all the stems back as low as I can using hedge clippers. The plants form nice neat grey green foliage mounds which will eventually get tall again and put out more blooms. Sometimes (if I'm really quick to cut them back), there will be little or no basal foliage, but it doesn't matter - they regrow just fine. I personally find the foliage mounds to be attractive during the regrowth period, and I am careful to cut the stems back very low so they do not show at all through the new foliage.

I'm not that careful with all of my nepeta. When the first blooms look more grey than blue/lavender, I take my cordless B&D HedgeHog trimmer and shape the entire plant into a mound of beautiful foliage. It blooms again later, but not so much. Cameron Here is a link that might be useful: my nepeta info

Walker's Low can get about 2' tall and even wider...mine has gotten about 4' wide before I trim back for a second and third bloom. I never heard of different varieties of Walker's Low. They don't need any special attention other than admiration.

Hi DtD, I like this plant very much and have it bordering a small corner fence near the drive. This was June 3 at its happiest: There are about 10 plants scattered about the property, even surrounding a clump of Heritage Birch with echinacea purpurea in between, bees are happy all summer. I do shear them twice a year with electric hedge clippers (gasp): once around the beginning of Aug. and the second time is nearly to the ground after all the leaves are mulched - end of Nov. The second flush in Aug/Sept isn't bad IMHO, so I think this plant really pays its rent and the cat loves a little high ever day. Today, like the KO roses, nobody looks at their best after the first flush, but when we get more sun and drier days, the WL picks up and the new growth is now beginning from the center: This plant makes too many things happy for me to rip it out just because it goes limp for a while. It is always covered with bees and hummingbirds. I have Artemesia Powis Castle at the end of the drive which is so big and happy in full sun and dry soil. But it doesn't bloom and no bees or birds are attracted to it. Perhaps interplanting your row of catmint with a taller flower, e.g. echinacea, would help? The blossoms are beginning so the wait for richer color between the WL first flush and the opening of the coneflowers is only, maybe 2 weeks. Just and idea. Best, Jane