{"id":2450,"date":"2018-06-25T06:24:12","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T14:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2450"},"modified":"2018-06-25T06:24:12","modified_gmt":"2018-06-25T14:24:12","slug":"cats-seeing-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/cats-seeing-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Cats Seeing Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are now entering the daisy days of early summer, when Shasta daisies, coneflowers, Gaillardia daisies and a constellation of other Asteraceae or Compositae family members burst into bloom.\u00a0 I love them all, because they are strong growers, attract loads of butterflies and other pollinators, and are equally useful for ornamenting the garden or filling vases in the house.\u00a0 Whether your daisies are residing in a repurposed pair of old garden boots and ornamenting a miniscule balcony, or installed in a multi-acre parterre by your pricey private gardener, they will thrive.\u00a0 If your sunny garden situation lies somewhere in between those two extremes, daisy family members will undoubtedly fit right in.\u00a0 They are great equalizers.<\/p>\n

Daisies are also eminently congenial garden dwellers and socialize well with members of other plant families.\u00a0 One of the best daisy\/non-daisy pairings that I have found is a daisy\/mint combo that requires almost no care, offers contrasting textures, blooms repeatedly throughout the summer and discourages garden varmints. \u00a0This match made in horticultural heaven combines Coreopsis verticillata or threadleaf coreopsis, and Nepeta recemosa or catmint.<\/p>\n

In the last twenty years or so, breeders have introduced any number of new coreopsis, sometimes known as \u201ctickseed\u201d.\u00a0 New and not-so-new varieties bloom in shades of yellow, red, peach, near-white and combinations of those colors.\u00a0 Many, but not all, are great garden plants.<\/p>\n

I will always try something new, but for my money, the best coreopsis\u2014and the one I pair with catmint\u2014is Coreopsis verticillata \u2018Zagreb\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018Zagreb\u2019 is descended from a North American native species and has been in commerce for long enough to have proven its merit.\u00a0 It grows about 18 inches tall, with delicate, thread-like foliage and a mounding habit.\u00a0 The real stars of the \u2018Zagreb\u2019 show are the bright golden, daisy flowers, which are about three quarters of an inch wide and appear in very loose clusters.\u00a0 Blooming in great profusion several times during the growing season, \u2018Zagreb\u2019 is true to its starry family and lifts its surroundings.\u00a0 The growth habit also discourages weeds, a plus for lazy or time-challenged gardeners like me.<\/p>\n

I pair \u2018Zagreb\u2019 with a blue-purple catmint variety that blooms at the same time and goes by the Latin name Nepeta racemosa \u2018Walker\u2019s Low\u2019.\u00a0 Its friends call it \u2018Walker\u2019s Low\u2019 catmint.\u00a0 Though \u201clow\u201d might suggest otherwise, at 30 inches tall, it does not grow particularly close to the ground.\u00a0 A card-carrying member of the mint or Labiateae family, catmint features stems that are square in cross section, as well as pungently aromatic leaves in a shade of gray-green.\u00a0 Its flowerheads are composed of scores of tiny, lipped flowers, which also carry the characteristic fragrance.<\/p>\n

Though she is an old lady of 17, my cat, Sarah, will descend the back staircase on a sunny day just to plunge her face into the catmint clump that grows at its base.\u00a0 Afterwards she returns to her throne on the back porch to loll in a contented haze for an hour or so.<\/p>\n

\u2018Walker\u2019s Low\u2019 is not the only catmint game in town.\u00a0 You might easily pair \u2018Zagreb\u2019 with the taller \u2018Six Hills Giant\u2019, which sports darker blue-purple flowers.\u00a0 If you decide on that combination, it is best to position the coreopsis in front of the catmint to show both plants to advantage.\u00a0 If you want a catmint that is shorter than the coreopsis, or you are trying to fit both in a large container, try Nepeta faassenii \u2018Cat\u2019s Meow\u2019, which tops out at 17 to 20 inches tall.<\/p>\n

I love blue and yellow combinations; each shade makes the other sing.\u00a0 If you have the space, alternate clumps of coreopsis and catmint for a lovely border.<\/p>\n

The advantages of the pairing go beyond beauty.\u00a0 Mint family members deter rodents and varmints of all kinds.\u00a0 I have not known our perpetually ravenous deer herd to touch coreopsis either, but the presence of the catmint will further deter any four-legged marauder that acquires a strange taste for daisies.\u00a0 Both plants can also be easily divided to make more specimens, which is especially useful if you are trying to fill up a large garden space.\u00a0 Maintenance is easy and uniform for both species.\u00a0 After the petals drop, simply cut back the coreopsis and catmint by about one third to stimulate tidy appearance and rebloom.\u00a0 If you want to be thrifty and help repel plant predators naturally, collect the clippings and sprinkle them near more vulnerable species, like lilies, hostas, impatiens and sedum.\u00a0 Even dried out, the catmint retains its aromatic qualities.<\/p>\n

I am an incorrigible plant collector and am almost always game for the new and different in the horticultural world.\u00a0 However, as in the case of blue-flowered \u201ccats\u201d and yellow-flowered \u201cstars\u201d, sometimes tried and true plant combinations are the best solutions to garden challenges.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A demure blue “cat” seeing perfect golden “stars”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are now entering the daisy days of early summer, when Shasta daisies, coneflowers, Gaillardia daisies and a constellation of other Asteraceae or Compositae family members burst into bloom.\u00a0 I love them all, because they are strong growers, attract loads of butterflies and other pollinators, and are equally useful for ornamenting the garden or filling … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[1887,408,1168,1889,257,263,448,409,1891,1888,1241,1890,1169,883],"class_list":["post-2450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-zagreb","tag-catmint","tag-coreopsis","tag-coreopsis-verticillata","tag-deer-resistant-plants","tag-mint-family","tag-native-plants","tag-nepeta","tag-nepeta-racemosa","tag-six-hills-giant","tag-summer-perennials","tag-threadleaf-coreopsis","tag-tickseed","tag-walkers-low"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2452,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450\/revisions\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}