Catnip

Nepeta cataria

Lamiaceae

A grey mint that sends cats sideways and, as a mild tea, settles people the other direction.

Garden mint. The tea is for people; the bruising is for cats.

Parts used: Aerial parts
Traditional notes: Restless evenings · Colicky digestion folklore · Low fever in old domestic books · Cat enrichment (bruised leaf)
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial, USDA 3–9 Seed or division. Cage it until established if you have cats. In work: May · Jun · Jul · Aug
Harvest: Tops as flowers open.

Seed needs light and a little cold. Or buy a plant and watch it self-sow.
Cut for tea before the cats flatten the patch — a hoop helps.
Lemonier than people expect when you dry it well.

Safety

Before driving if you are surprisingly sensitive

Companions

Plant with Lemon balm, Peppermint, Spearmint.

Lore

Nepeta, named for the Etrurian town of Nepete. Cats who have the gene will wreck a plant for the iridoids; cats who don’t will walk past. The tea is a mild lemon-mint for people, and a riot for everyone else.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.