Large-flowered calamint
Calamintha grandiflora ·
Bright pink, sage-like flowers, large for a calamint, among soft, toothed leaves that smell of mint and tangerine.
- Size
- 16 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Mid June to late August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around large-flowered calamint
The planner designed this bed around large-flowered calamint when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why large-flowered calamint stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Large-flowered calamint × 5, pink
- 2 Bloody cranesbill × 2, white
- 3 Creeping mahonia × 8, yellow
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Foxglove beardtongue × 3, white
- 6 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 7 Surprise lily × 12, pink
- 8 Red spider lily × 3, red
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are open bowls, dense clusters, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- In the middle. At 16 in it is the step between creeping mahonia (12 in) in front and arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' (2½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- 5 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 11 weeks. From mid June to late August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With bloody cranesbill and foxglove beardtongue in mid June: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. It is planted in layers: about 16 in at the front, 24 in in the middle and 3½ ft at the back. Not everything here depends on flower: arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' earns its place with leaves.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where large-flowered calamint goes in a border
At 16 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A calamint for part shade, where its relatives sulk. It makes a fresh green mound at the edge of a woodland bed and flowers for most of the summer.
- Summer colour in part shade
- Scented foliage beside a path
- Woodland edges
What to plant with large-flowered calamint
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Lady's mantle: in flower together for four weeks, from mid June.
- Bigroot cranesbill: in flower together for two weeks, from mid June.
- Japanese forest grass: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about large-flowered calamint
Does large-flowered calamint need sun or shade?
Large-flowered calamint grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does large-flowered calamint grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does large-flowered calamint flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid June to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Mid June to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Mid June to late August |
| Zone 7 | Early June to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Early June to mid August |
| Zone 9 | Late May to early August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should large-flowered calamint be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 16 in (40 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many large-flowered calamint plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used five in one group.
Is there a native plant like large-flowered calamint?
Large-flowered calamint is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Fringed bleeding heart: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers early May to late August, fine leaves, not medium.
- Pink tickseed: the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour; fine leaves, not medium, wants moist soil.
- Coneflower 'Kim's Knee High': the same job in a bed and the same colour; belongs in the middle, not at the front, 4 in taller.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after large-flowered calamint?
Large-flowered calamint is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Autumn moor grass: from mid August to early October, 16 in tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does large-flowered calamint look like in winter?
Large-flowered calamint dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Calamintha
- Calamint Calamintha nepeta
- Calamint 'Montrose White' Calamintha nepeta 'Montrose White'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 16 in (40 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid June to late August; airy sprays; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.