Catnip & catmint

Catnip is a wonderful herb to have in the garden, along with its close cousin catmint. They are members of the mint family and as the name says, cats are drawn to them. Nepeta cataria has a distinctive sweet herby smell, the last thing I would have associated with cats until I saw them going crazy over it. The bees love them too and they have pretty flowers in late spring and summer, pink for catnip and blue for catmint. Both are very tough plants once established, but need a bit of water when it's very dry. They need to be tough with the amount of activity they create. Aside from cats going crazy over these two, they are considered a great herb for children.

The tops and leaves are the part used and harvested just prior and while flowering. Traditionally, it was made into a tea.

As you may have guessed, these plants have sedative action as well as being indicated for fevers, tummy upsets, and the sniffles. Most studies have focused on animals and insects rather than people but apparently it used to be drunk as a tea in England until black tea was introduced.

Catnip in my wintry garden. It was planted with reinforcements like netting and the bamboo you can see in the pic or the cats would have destroyed it roots and all.