Lamiaceae, mint family including: agastache, dead-nettle, nepetas

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I was confused recently identifying a seedling whether it was nepeta cataria or dead-nettle and I realised these plants (and a few others related) - at least in the early stages - were so similar it was worth having a closer look. This is a very personal selection as I have all these plants in my garden (except two which I see nearby) - and they are plants I (and the bees) really like.

This has turned into a moving target as I have to keep adding plants which I realised are in the Lamiaceae family.

Anise hyssop Agastache anisata, I grew from seed

Betony Stachys officinalis

Basil Ocimum basilicum, I bought this from the supermarket

Catnip, Nepeta cataria, I grow from seed. (I have never seen plants for sale).

Dead-nettle Laminum purpureum, self-seeds a lot in my garden

Gipsywort Lycopus europaeus, I see this along the Regent's Canal

Lemon balm Melissa officinalis, I see it in a front garden nearby

Lesser Calamint,  Calamintha nepeta / syn. Clinopodium nepeta I grew from seed

Mint I think I bought this as a small herb from the garden centre many years ago

Nepeta, Garden catmint Nepeta faassenii

Wild Basil, Clinopodium vulgare I grew this from seed; it came in a promotional packet of mixed seeds

Flowers:	all similar Lamiaceae-type flowers
Agastache anisata, pink/purple	Basil, white	Betony, dark pink	Catnip, white
Dead-nettle, pink	Gipsywort, white	Lemon Balm,       white (and yellow)	Lesser Calamint,  very light purple
Mint, dark pink	Nepeta, light purple	Wild Basil, dark pink
Flowers:	arrangement of the flowers
Agastache anisata	Catnip	Dead-nettle	Lemon Balm
clusters at the top of  the flowering stems	small clusters of flowers on the stem	under leaves	single flowers and small clusters of flowers on the stem
Lesser Calamint	Mint	Nepeta faassenii
Stems:	all square
upright	sprawling at times	upright	upright
Leaves
fewer veins	more veins
catnip	dead-nettle	lesser calamint	nepeta faassenii
agastache	lemon balm
Seedlings

Anise hyssop (Agastache anisata)

Luckily this one is easy for me to identify in my garden because of the anise smell which I don't have from any other plants. Also the colour in the centre of the seedling, at the base of the leaves is distinctive of all the Lamiaceae's I have in the garden.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Betony (Stachys officinalis)

Catnip (Nepeta cataria)

close-up of the catnip flowers

Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum)

I have just been calling this dead-nettle but it needs a proper name. Appears to be red dead-nettle which I think has some variation in leaf colour, not always very purple. Most of my deadnettle plants don't have purple leaves but the odd one did and the ones I often see locally do have purple on the leaves. It's August and not the best time for dead-nettles but as I'm doing the comparison now, I'm taking photos of what I have right now in the garden (8-8-2018).

but looking back at some of my older photos, I see quite a large well-developed dead-nettle

Gipsywort (Lycopus europaeus)

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

The buds are yellow. When the flower open the lower part is white and the upper part is yellow.

Lesser Calamint (Calamintha nepeta)

entire pot of plants

close-ups of some of the lesser calamint flowers

Mint

I've had this mint in my garden for years, in a pot so it won't take over. No idea what mint specifically but it has buds (August 2018) so hope the flowers will be definitive for identification.

mint flowers just opening

peppermint flowers

Moroccan Mint

another mint I saw in a neighbour's front garden

Nepeta faassenii

Wild Basil  Clinopodium vulgare 

close-up of the wild basil flowers

spent wild basil flowers, aside from a few still in flower at the bottom

the dead-nettle on the right is easy to identify at this stage because of the pink flowers

the dead-nettle (sprawling) is in the square pot above, nepeta (upright) is in the round pots below