Nepeta cataria Seeds - Catnip

Nepeta cataria, also known as catnip, is a perennial for dry soils and full sun. It forms small clumps of green foliage with branched spikes of pinkish-white to mauve flowers in the summer. Stems, leaves and flowers are aromatic when ruffled. Cats are happy to inhale its scent and sometimes roll around in the plant to the point of threatening its survival. Perfectly hardy, it is easy to grow in free-draining soil and perfect for natural, informal rock gardens or borders.

Catnip is native to temperate zones of Europe and Asia, but has become so widespread in many countries that it is sometimes considered a bad weed. It is a cousin of mint, thyme and sage, for example, and also contains essential oils used in phytotherapy.

This herbaceous perennial measures 10 to 30 centimetres in width and height and has a long flowering period that lasts from June to September. Its greyish-green stems, which bear the flowers, can reach up to a height of 1 m. The small flowers are white or pinkish lilac and the middle lobe of the lower lip are spotted with red. The inflorescences are rather short, compound clusters that are evenly distributed from the top to the bottom of each stem. The simple, hairy leaves are shaped like ovals or upside down hearts with crenate margins. The plant survives the winter in the form of spreading stems that are partly buried at their base which are equipped with adventitious roots and dormant buds that will grow out a whole new set of stems the following spring.

The wild beauty of its foliage, the generosity of its blooms and its ease of cultivation make Nepeta cataria an indispensable plant for dry gardens. It is also very easy to grow in flowering pots. It is superb in rock gardens or on low walls, which it covers with a silvery moss and then with a layer of discreet but charming flowers, just like Aubrieta or Dalmatian bellflowers. Combine it with rock soapwort, yellow Turkish sage, false dittany, fuchsia or red baby sage in flowerbeds and borders.

It produces a unique effect on cats. Its tissues contain a molecule called nepetalactone, a terpene which triggers the secretion of sex pheromones in the brains of our small felines.