Known botanically as Nepeta x faassenil, catmint is also called catnep or catnip. It is a member of the Labiatae family and grows around England, Scotland, and in North America. It is an introduced plant, non-native, to the United States.
Catmint Description
Growing two to three feet high, catmint is a leafy plant with a downy cover. Leaves are soft and heart-shaped, with a white underside. There is a dusty look to the plant. Blooms are in dense whorls and bloom from July to September. They have deep red anthers and a white or pale pink petal. You can tell it’s a Nepeta by the fifteen ribs on the calyx tube.
Growing Guide
Grow in any type of soil, in rows about 20 inches apart. It can be propagated by seed or division. Grow in full sun to partial shade and it will need watering every three weeks to keep the root ball wet.
Herbal Remedies
Used as an herbal remedy, the flowering tops are harvested in August, during full bloom. They are said to have a tonic, antispasmodic, and mild stimulant affect. It is used in a tea to use on fever and induce sleep. An infusion of catmint is given for pain and flatulence. For herbal remedies, do not boil the plant, as it will spoil it for use.
Catmint Sayings
There is an old saying on the difference between sowing seed of catmint and transplanting catmint plants:
“If you set it, cats will eat it. If you sow it, cats won’t know it”.
The Herb Garden
In The Herb Garden, Miss Bardswell writes “'Before the use of tea from China, our English peasantry were in the habit of brewing Catmint Tea, which they said was quite as pleasant and a good deal more wholesome. Ellen Montgomery in The Wide, Wide World made Catmint Tea for Miss Fortune when she was ill. It is stimulating. The root when chewed is said to make the most gentle person fierce and quarrelsome, and there is a legend of a certain hangman who could never screw up his courage to the point of hanging anybody till he had partaken of it. Rats dislike the plant particularly, and will not approach it even when driven by hunger”.
Uses
It makes for a great addition to butterfly and hummingbird gardens. It also does well in perennial gardens as an edging. Cats adore this plant and they may roll around in it.
Source:
Master Gardeners, Santa Clara County, Catmint, retrieved Sept. 1, 2011
http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/catmin36.html
A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M Grieves, 1995-2011
Tina Samuels - Tina Samuels specializes in health, animal, and gardening articles. She authored "A Georgia Native Plant Guide".
