<i>Nepeta </i>plant named ‘Picture Purrfect’

Abstract

The new and distinct hardy perennial plant, Nepeta ‘Picture Purrfect’, has a broad, low spreading mound, with compact habit with mostly upright stems. The foliage is small, serrate and fragrant. Flowers are a bluish-purple with persistent rosy-purple calyces and dark purplish-red peduncles. The new plant begins flowers about two weeks earlier than typical ornamental catnip cultivars and reblooms after initial flowering. The new plant is useful in the landscape en masse, as an accent, or in containers.

Claims

1. A new and distinct hardy perennial Nepeta plant named ‘Picture Purrfect’ essentially as herein described and illustrated useful for landscaping as a specimen, en masse, or in a container to bring color and fragrance to a garden and attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The photographs of the new plant Nepeta ‘Picture Purrfect’ are of a four-year old plant in a full-sun, trial garden in Zeeland, Mich. and demonstrate the unique aspects of the new plant. The colors are as accurate as reasonably possible with color reproductions. Ambient light spectrum, temperature, source and direction may cause the appearance of minor variation in color.

(2) FIG. 1 shows the overall habit of the new plant.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a close-up of the flowers, buds and stems.

DETAILED PLANT DESCRIPTION

(4) The following descriptions are based on a four-year old plant of Nepeta ‘Picture Purrfect’ grown in a full-sun trial garden in sandy loam with supplemental water and fertilizer as needed. The color references are based on the 2015 edition of The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart except where common dictionary terms are used. The new plant has not been observed under all possible environments. The phenotype may vary slightly with different environmental conditions, such as temperature, light, fertility, moisture and maturity levels, but without any change in the genotype. Parentage: Self-pollination of the proprietary hybrid 13-13-3; Plant habit: Herbaceous perennial; multi-stemmed, mounding to about 34 cm tall and 83 cm wide at the base in flower; Growth: Rapid; time to initiate roots at 23° C. about one week; finishing in a standard #1-15 cm container in about 8 to 10 weeks from rooted 25 mm plug; Root: Fine, freely branching; color between RHS NN155C and RHS 158D depending on soil type and nutrient content; Foliage: Opposite; simple; ovate; rugose on both abaxial and adaxial surfaces; margins crenate with 10 to 13 teeth per side; micro-puberulent on adaxial and abaxial surfaces; apex acute; base cordate; blade size to about 38 mm long and 25 mm wide near base, average about 29 mm long and 18 mm across; Leaf color: Young expanding adaxial nearest RHS 138A, young expanding abaxial nearest RHS 138B; mature adaxial nearest RHS 137A, mature abaxial nearest RHS147B; Foliage fragrance: Foliage and stem herbal fragrance; Venation: Longitudinal; impressed on adaxial surface and costate on abaxial surface; Vein color: Adaxial nearest RHS 137A and abaxial nearest RHS 147C; Petiole: Micro-puberulent adaxial and abaxial; slightly concavo-convex; to about 4.5 mm long and 1.5 mm across at base; average about 3.5 mm long and about 1.5 mm across; Petiole color: Adaxial nearest RHS 146B, abaxial nearest RHS 146C; Stem: Micro-puberulent; quadrangular; mostly horizontal; about 64.0 cm long and 3.0 mm across at base; about 40 stems per plant; with compound branches in proximal nodes; about 6 branches per stem, branches to about 32.5 cm long and 2.0 mm across at base; Stem color: Lower portion nearest RHS 146D, upper portion nearest RHS 146B; Internodes: Average about 2.7 cm apart with greatest distance in the middle of the stem; about 9 to 14 nodes per stem before flowers; Internode color: Same as surrounding stem; Inflorescence: Cymosely clustered with many flowers typically branched at verticillasters in the 16 upper nodes; about 9 to 40 flowers per node and about 100 to 400 flowers per inflorescence stem or peduncle; Peduncle: Flowering portion curving upwardly; flowers on one verticillaster flowering over prolonged period; flower portion in distal 32 cm and 4,5 cm wide; Peduncle color: Nearest RHS N79A; Pedicel: Sessile to 1.0 mm long and 0.3 mm diameter; puberulent; cylindrical; upwardly; Pedicel color: When present nearest RHS N138C with moderate blush of nearest RHS N77C; Flower bud: Curved clavate; about 9.0 mm long and 3.5 mm tall and 2.5 mm wide in bulb portion, 1.5 mm diameter at base; abaxial surface pubescent; Flower bud color: Petal portion nearest RHS 86D with distal petal margins nearest RHS 86B; calyx portion nearest RHS 146B with heavy blush of nearest RHS N79B dorsal side and veins; Flowers: Zygomorphic; perfect; bilabiate; sympetalous with basal 9.0 mm fused; lips opening to form about an 80 degree angle to each other; 12.0 mm long and 8.0 mm tall and 7.0 mm wide; in dense verticillasters; Upper lip.—With two lobes; puberulent on abaxial surface, glabrous adaxial; lobes about 2.0 mm long and 2.0 mm wide above fusion; lobes with rounded apex; total size of lip about 12.0 mm long and about 5.0 mm wide at fusion. Lower lip.—Consisting of three lobes; center and largest lobe slightly concave to flattened with rounded apex and crenate margin having seven indentations of about 1.0 mm deep in center and the three lateral incisions to about 0.5 mm deep; two side lobes with rounded apices and entire margin; center lobe to about 16.0 mm long in total, 7.0 mm long from fusion and up to 9.0 mm across when flattened; side lobes 2.0 mm long from fusion and 3.0 mm across; puberulent abaxial center and glabrous near margin, glabrous adaxial except pubescent tuft of white hairs nearest NN155D about 1.0 mm long in center. Petal color.—Adaxial face upper lips nearest RHS N82C; lower lips nearest RHS N87C along margin with center nearest RHS 84D, and maculate with spots between about 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm diameter and in color nearest RHS 86A; adaxial and abaxial corolla tube nearest RHS 84D with spots or nearest RHS 86A decreasing in concentration and size to about 0.1 mm diameter proximally, and basal 1.0 mm nearest RHS NN155B; abaxial upper face nearest RHS N82D; abaxial lower lips nearest RHS N87C; abaxial tube nearest RHS 85C distally and nearest RHS 85D proximally with the basal 1.0 mm nearest RHS NN155B. Calyx: Synsepalous; 5-merous fused into tube in basal 4.0 mm and separated in distal 2.0 mm; about 8.0 mm long and 3.0 mm diameter at apex and 2.0 mm diameter at base; Sepals: Five; acute apex; basal fused; margin ciliolate; with about 3 conspicuous longitudinal veins; glabrous adaxial, pubescent abaxial; persistent; about 8.0 mm long and 1.0 mm across at fusion, fused in basal 6.0 mm and free in distal 2.0 mm; Sepal color: Adaxial distally between veins nearest RHS 137A, proximally nearest RHS 138D and veins nearest RHS 137A, with distal region lightly blushed nearest RHS N79B; abaxial nearest RHS 146B with heavy blush of nearest RHS N79B dorsal side and veins; Gynoecium: Single compound ovary with two carpels, single gynobasic style, and stigma bifid; Style.—About 10.0 mm long and 0.5 mm diameter; color between RHS 70A and RHS NN155D. Stigma.—Bifid in distal 1.0 mm to sharply acute apex; color between RHS 79A and RHS 83A. Ovary.—Four-lobed, each lobe ovoid, about 1.0 mm long and 0.5 mm across, ovary color between RHS 145A and RHS N144D. Androecium: Four; Filaments.—Adnate to petals in basal 8.0 mm, free in distal 5.0 mm; cylindrical; straight; color between RHS N82C and RHS N82D. Anthers.—Oblong ellipsoidal; 1.0 mm long and 0.3 mm across; color between RHS N92B and RHS N92C. Pollen.—Abundant; color nearest RHS 158B. Flowering period: In Western Michigan beginning early June for six weeks and repeating into October; individual flowers remain open for about three days; Flower fragrance: None detected; Flower attitude: Outwardly; Fruit and seed: Rare, nutlets, flattened, round; about 1.5 mm diameter and 0.5 mm thick; nearest RHS 200B; Pest and disease susceptibility: No resistance beyond that which is typical for Nepeta but typically not prone to browsing by deer or rodents.