PlantFiles: Catnip
Nepeta cataria

Hardy and reliable. This is a must-have for all gardeners and cat lovers!

Use it as a way to keep feral cats away from your flower and veggie gardens (by planting it far away). Use it as a natural bug repellant (by planting it IN your gardens).

Nearly everywhere I've lived in upstate NY always seems to have a wild patch or two of the stuff growing somewhere and it always comes back year after year!

Selfseeds alot, but easy to pull.
The Gold Finches went insane over the seeds.
Butterflies,hummingbirds and hummingbird moths drenched them as well.
Makes a gorgeous mounding border plant if kept trimmed.

I have tried several times to grow it however not successful. They always seem to die even when I have planted seeds or bought plants.
I wanted to grow it for my cats. I am wondering if you could grow it in a large planter to keep it from spreading?

I'm very much a cat person, so this is a handy plant for me. My cat loves it, she always has a big stalk to lie around on and be territorial with. The bees absolutely love it, too, and are currently swarming the catnip patch en masse.

It's so incredibly hardy that I never need to do a thing for it, and it still grows so large (and so profusely) that I can give huge bundles to friends every time they visit. Heat and drought don't phaze it, even when most of the plants are suffering. My tallest plants are currently over 5' (despite dying down every Winter).

Last year I let it become overgrown, but both the tiny volunteers and the excess large plants are always easy to remove. Anything else gets harvested when it leans anywhere it isn't welcome. Best for growing around other hardy herbs (keep them away from easily overrun flowers!), my catnip co-exists with my lemon balm and serves as a blockade against nearby weeds for the smaller herbs. They also make good shade for less heat tolerant herbs.

I orginally got this plant for my two cats - and I'm rather glad I did, as it keeps them from nibbling on my other more poisonous plants. NEVER plant this outside of a container - they spread like crazy and will pop up after you think you've got them controlled. I still have some small ones popping up in a container that used recycled dirt from a previous failed catnip seedbed. Keep a few pots of this if you've got cats - the cats will destroy a pot of small plants in no time, so you can keep a few containers growing while the other is being mauled and regularly switch them out.

This grows wild in rural Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas and goes by the name 'stinkweed' for its rather harsh smell. The flowers are pretty, but don't add any real pleasant smell to the plant. I'd only recommend this to people who want to keep their cats off their other plants.

Keep in full sun to light shade and water often for large plants - mine grow best right after being left out during a rainstorm for a good drench and then air drying.

This is a plant for cat-owners. The flowers are insignificant, so it doesn't really need to be in the perennial garden.

I strongly recommend that this plant be grown in a container at least 12" across and 9" deep. Like many other mints, it really spreads by the roots and can become rather invasive. If you have 2 pots of it going, that works really well, because one pot can be inside for your cat and other outside in the sunshine. Switch them out once the indoor one starts to look like it needs sun. Our cat keeps the indoor one "mowed" down!

I "winter-sowed"catnip this year and I have a nice pot of catnip that delights my cats.They love to have it rubbed on their faces.One of the cats will eat it and shortly after will take a nice long nap.It doesn't get any of them frisky,but it relaxes them.I have been giving stems of it to other cat lovers and all say their cats are crazy about it.My son's girlfriend chews leaves of it once in awhile and got me started.It freshen your mouth.I am going to be saving all I can for the winter months ahead and am looking forward to growing even more next year.

Well, with 7 cats this has been a very hot topic with us - I really don't know where to begin. We received the seeds as a freebie with a tomato seed purchase - seems harmless so far, uh? ....Not the case.

The cats got ahold of this stuff and, to our eyes, became addicted. We flooded all the cat hangouts with some homemade propaganda, e,g: "catnip madness" "the devil's herb" and so on. But it didn't work.

The fact that the cats were drying, bagging and selling the catnip to other cats in the area irked us more than anything - nobody gets paid on this farm but us.

Our first instinct was to tax the catnip - charging the cats to harvest and so on - but then , low and behold, our extreme "Christian" beliefs came into play.... can you say "lengthy prison sentence" and yes, even for minor possession.

After our jail was filled up and no cats were on the streets we realized that we had shoot ourselves in the foot, financially speaking.

...So now we have lowered the consequences to just a short stay in jail and a hefty fine. Morality and profit combined with the quenching of our sadistic nature - Ain't it grand ?

One of our more liberal cats just presented us with a study to show catnip to be not only completely harmless but a great stress reliever too - don't think we didn't bury that bone!!! I don't care how much evidence they can gather - We aren't buying it!! This is worth more than tomatoes ever will be!!!

I think that we are going to raise penalties again though, we elect a new farm leader this year...

Even though I don't have cats, I grow this to share with my cat loving friends. Many of them don't garden or have brown thumbs, so they are grateful to get it fresh or dried. It does spread fast if not deadheaded, but is easy enough to pull.

I have grown this plant for years just for my cat. They seem to like fresh catnip over the store bought kind. Most of the cats I have had just tend to roll in it, but one cat, would actually eat the leaves, fresh or dried. After that watch out he went wild for a while then napped for a very long time.

I have a three year old plant in the garden that has attained a height of 57". Last winter the temperture dropped to -46 and wind chills at almost -60. The plant was the last to freeze off in the garden last year and one of the first to green up this spring. Our dogs are great protectors of this plant against neighbourhood cats. We harvest two ways. The first is that we harvest the buds after the butterflys and bees visit. the buds are pruned from the plant and dried for our cats, and the local humaine society. Towards fall we cut back the plant drying the leaves on the stem for tea and for less potient catnip to be mixed with buds. The growth the continues until snow cover on the plant where it seems to comback stronger the following year.

We call our nepeta cataria the Discovery Channel plant. The bees and other creatures just love it. The finches eat the seeds in the fall. I counted 20 bees on the plant this afternoon. We have it right beside a pond where we sit and enjoy the buzzing activity. Watching this plant is like watching a nature show on TV...but better.

If you are scared of bees or are deathly allergic to a sting, then I wouldn't recommend it. But we've never been stung by them and have stuck cameras nearly on top of them.

Invasive? It does spread. But the new plants are really easy to kill. It is not as invasive as my neighbor's lawn grass.

We consider it a "must have" plant for every garden.

I've at some time or nother planted this in my butterfly garden. I was rather impressed with it's ability to grow quite fast. The smaller butterflies also went crazy over the flowers.

What I hadn't been aware of was it's ability to spread.... like crazy. I had little catnips popping up all over the place.

It's been two years of weeding and they still come up everywhere. I never would have planted if I knew it would behave like this.

I don't have cats so I can't comment on that but I have used it to make tea and it lends it a rather interesting flavor.

I have successfully grown this plant both in the garden & in containers - keeping a pot of it on the deck to grab a few sprigs now & then to toss inside to my 6 (yup 6) adopted/rescued cats. With a little honey, the steeped fresh leaves also make a nice herb tea, reputed to be very soothing when one is under the weather. I've used it alone as well as mixed with other herbs for this purpose.

I leave my container plant outside year-round, & although the original plant sometimes doesn't reappear the following spring, I always allow a few blooms to go to seed, & there have always been self-sown seedlings to take over. Whether containerized or in the ground, it is key to pinch this plant back regularly to keep it bushy & avoid that "weedy" look.

Maybe it is because it is growing wild around here that I do not like this plant very much. It is straggly, weedy and invasive. They are too many attractive nepetas to grow than to bother with this one unless there is a cat to please.

Catnip can be used for a tea for relief of cold/flu
insomnia and hyperactivity. Add honey for flavor. Also is very good for reducing fevers, the miseries of hayfever, and nausea.

Also the Oil ( nepetalactone ) from the plant can be
extracted by steam and the oil has been found out to
be 10 to 20 times better then DEET for repelling
mosquitoes. Bad side effect is that it attracts bee's.

Some cats are not affected by catnip and kittens may
not react to it either till there 6 months to a year old.

I have to grow mine in a hanging basket on the porch, so my six cats do not kill it. However, one of the cats figured out how to get on the porch roof and access it from there. I have now moved it farther away from the overhang.

This is one plant I grow just for my 2 cats. They each get about 2-3 fresh leaves daily as a treat if they're good. I have to control access to it or my younger cat will go beserk and demolish the whole thing. To keep overzealous kitties (like mine) from pulling the plant out by the roots, try fencing it in at planting time with chicken wire. A more attractive alternative is to purchase a medium-sized ornamental bird cage to put over the plant. Enough leaves will grow up and through the cage for the kitties to chew on, but they won't be able to crush or rip out the plant. Interesting fact: very young kittens up to a certain age are not affected by catnip.

Every year I buy this plant, it has never overwintered here. I'm not sure if that is due to the neighbors cats or competition with the catmint that was next to it. This year I noticed volunteers along the side of the raised bed it was in. I was able to transplant them into the "mint barrel" where they are doing nicely.

It is a not as tight and compact as catmint, but the foliage has a nice color and texture and the flowers are rather pretty.

Catnip is one of those herbs that grows well and makes an attractive window box plant. I paired mine with oregano and they were lovely together. Catnip also grows fine in well draining containers, so if you want to keep your cats(or your neighbor's cats) out of it, put it in a hanging basket. It will trail over nicely. I do want to mention that pregnant women should avoid drinking tea of this herb.

Catnip has proven to be even more attractive to squirrels than to cats in my yard. They become as intoxicated by it as the cats do, but the squirrels fall out of the trees when drunk, causing a lot of havoc with the pets.

Catnip bloom colour is white. Species having violet/blue blooms are commonly called as Catmint.

Catnip is a marginal perennial in our South Central Alaska coastal area. In the more severe winters, it may not survive. However, it grows well here all summer, if you can keep the cats from rolling in it. My neighbor has six cats, and all but one become intoxicated by the catnip.

HARVESTING AND STORING: In late summer,strip topmost leaves from stems and spread them to dry on a screen in the shade,or hang bunches upside down. Store in tightly sealed containers.

Make a tea from the dried leaves to use as a carminative,tonic and mild sedative. Use fresh leaves in salads.

OTHER COMMON NAMES:Catnep,catmint.

SPECIAL TIPS: Grow enough to share with your cat,since the bruised foliage releases a scent that turns cats into playful kittens.

Catnip is a perennial herb in zones 3-9. It gets 3 1/2' tall and should be spaced 18" apart. The flowers can be white or violet-blue. The leaves are heartshaped on square stems. Catnip forms a mound and has fragrant bluish-green foliage with masses of small flowers. The foliage can be used in teas. Plant in full sun and fertile, sandy, well-drained soil.

'Citriodora' has lemon scented leaves.