Nepetaspp.
Nepetais a genus of flowering perennials in the mint family , include popular herbs such as catnip and Faassen ’s Nepeta cataria .
Many lineament attractive aromatic leaf and recollective flower blossom that pollinators love .
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What ’s more , with very few blighter or other issues to occupy about , these hardy perennial are improbably prosperous to grow !
Continue on to learn all about grow catmint plants .
What You’ll Learn
What Is Catmint?
TheNepetagenus includes 250 species of herbaceous perennials as well as a few annuals , with about 20 of these species and cultivars currently in cultivation .
They are often found in the wild growing in dry , sunny sphere , often in dry rocky soil inUSDA Hardiness Zones3 to 9 .
Species in this genus are drought resistant , require importantly less water than some other mint .
The genus arrest several commonly grown species , most of which have redolent heart - shaped green to gray - green foliage with opposite leaves , square fore , and little tubular flowers in shades of lavender , white , pink , or drab that blossom from outflow through declivity .
Some democratic one include catmint ( Nepeta cataria ) , Iranian catnip ( N. mussinii ) , and Faassen ’s catmint ( Nxfaassenii ) .
Though to make matters confusing , the common names “ catnip ” and “ catmint ” are used to look up to multiple species .
N. cataria , commonly known as Nepeta cataria , catwort , or catnip , is a traditional medicative herb and the one we typically use to elate our CT , though others in the genus may be attractive to felines as well .
It has a bit of a underweight appearance than some other species .
N. racemosa ( akaN. mussinii)is also referred to as catmint , nanus catnip , or raceme catmint .
A lower growing perennial with lilac - colored flowers , it is often rise as a molding or ground binding in bloom beds .
N. x faassenii , anN. racemosahybrid also known as Faassen ’s catmint , is a compact mounding loanblend with small but attractive lavender heyday . It is also grown chiefly for its decorative time value .
you may learn to grow Faassen ’s catmint in our guide .
Cultivation and History
Species in this genus can be hound to Europe , Asia , and Africa , and many have naturalized in North America and throughout the humankind . N. catariawas first brought to North America in the 1800s by settlers who used it as a culinary herbaceous plant .
ManyNepetaspecies are cultivated as ornamental , for nutrient , medicine , and of course of instruction , for cats !
These plants have long been used as herbal remedies in many custom , often give as teatime to shaver suffering from colic , stress , febrility , or tummy ache .
These days , catnip tea is unremarkably sell by herbal companies who market it as a calm down digestive aid , among other United States .
Plants also control a compound called nepetalactone , a volatile crude oil that provoke a neurological response in cats , causing them to go temporarily nuts .
Catmint Plant Propagation
Nepetaplants raise and spread easy , and are very promiscuous to distribute in a number of different ways .
From Seed
you may depart seeds indoors four to eight calendar week before the last icing . Fill three- or four - inch pots with pot mix and press germ into the soil , barely covering .
Keep moist until seedlings appear in two to three calendar week and then place the pots under bright luminousness until they develop at least two set of true leaves .
you may also channelize sow seminal fluid outside before the first freeze of fall or in spring after last frost .
you’re able to meliorate germination by cold stratifying germ in the deep freezer overnight and then pluck them in water for 12 to 24 hour prior to planting .
Prepare a garden bed or container with garden stain mix with an inch of organic subject . Sprinkle ejaculate on top , barely cover since light care germination for these plants .
Water lightly and keep moist until sprout seem , in two to three weeks . tenuous seedlings to about 18 inches apart .
It is crucial to note that not all genus Nepeta specie can be start out from come . Some , such as Faassen ’s Nepeta cataria , are sterile and can only be propagated by division or from cuttings . Fortunately , this is easy to do .
By Division
If you have established plants available , divisions are probably the easiest and quickest method of disseminate new plant and these can be taken at any meter during the growing season , though it ’s good to annul dividing flora in the heat of summertime .
Find a subdivision of an established plant with a healthy and mature origin organisation , slice vertically with a garden jigaboo to ignore it away from the rest of the plant , and cautiously hollow it up .
you could also compass up the intact plant , divide it into ball , and then replant each incision directly into the garden or in containers .
Water after replant and continue to irrigate regularly until established .
you’re able to learn to divide perennials in our guide .
From Cuttings
When new ontogenesis look in the spring , you’re able to pick out the top three to four inches of a stem and cut at an angle just below a leaf node . Remove the abject leave from the cut , will the top two to four intact .
To root cut in soil , adhere the cut end into a four - column inch container filled with pot mixing and set it in a warm location that receive indirect or sink in light . Water regularly until new ontogeny appears .
This should go on within a few hebdomad , and serve as a good polarity that the cutting has root . At this peak , it can be transplant into its permanent location in the garden , or repotted to a larger container .
Cuttings can also be stood up in a shabu filled with a couple inches of cool water to root , set in collateral luminousness .
The body of water should be recondite enough to cover at least a distich of leaf lymph node , though you should avoid submerging any of the intact folio . brush up the water every yoke of days and roots should come along in a week or less .
At this tip you may transplant them into a four - in pot fulfil with uninventive potting admixture . Water on a regular basis and provide separate out Christ Within until new growth appear , then replant as described above .
From Seedlings/Transplanting
Before plant seedlings out in the garden , you could inure them off by moving them for short periods to a sheltered location alfresco .
Each mean solar day for a calendar week , tardily increase the length of time they drop outside .
After the threat of rime has pass , imbed out in the garden in hole toil to the profundity of the roots , space plant 18 inches asunder .
How to Grow Catmint Plants
Most species can put up a range of soil types , including flaxen and rough grunge . Just be indisputable the land is well draining with a pH between 5.0 and 7.5 .
determine a location infull sunand oeuvre about an inch of compost into the grime . While this is n’t dead demand , plants do tend to be bushier in soil that is more fertile .
If planting multiples , space about 18 inch apart .
It is also worth noting that someNepetaspecies can spread sharply . you’re able to avoid this by planting in containers orraised beds .
urine well at planting metre , and keep on to supply about aninch of H2O a weekfor the first season . Established plants are drouth kind and will only take water from time to time , if it has n’t rain down for several week .
Be sure to avoid overwatering . These plants do not tolerate slopped foot !
Adding a distich inches ofshredded bark , leaves , or drinking straw mulcharound the foot of plant each season is a good way to help maintain grease moisture and ameliorate drainage .
Mulch also helps regulate land temperature and suppresses weeds .
Growing Tips
Pruning and Maintenance
Nepeta plants begin blooming in early summer and many specie flower repeatedly throughout the season .
you’re able to deadheador rationalize back plants to keep them from becoming floppy and promote a full second bloom .
Trim leaf back significantly after flowering , removing about a third of the leaf .
If plants are spreading too much , separate plant each time of year as describe above will facilitate to keep them in deterrent . you’re able to replant divided sections or give them to a admirer .
Species and Cultivars to Select
There are plentitude of similarities between the differentNepetaspecies and cultivars , though there are a few utilitarian distinctions to note when choosing which ones to grow .
Nepeta cataria
If you are concerned in the traditional medicinal herb we think of as catnip , N. catariais the one you need .
This plant has prospicient shuck with expectant , coarsely toothed , blurry leaf and little white , royal , or pink flowers in dull gyre .
N. cataria
The dried herbaceous plant has a mint - corresponding aroma and makes a delicious tea . It is also the perfect filler for a quat toy .
you’re able to findN. catariaseedsavailable from dead on target Leaf Market .
Nepeta mussinii
N. mussiniiis a thick mounding ornamental that grows up to a groundwork in stature , with hoar - green foliage and clusters of half - in lavender profane flower that attract bees and butterflies .
N. mussinii
you may discover heirloom seedsavailable at Eden Brothers .
Nepeta x faassenii‘Walker’s Low’
This popularN.xfaasseniicultivar have vertical spike of trumpet - shape lavender blue flowers that bloom all through summertime and into downfall , as well as dusty gray - green fragrant leaf .
This two to three - foot hardy perennial is arrant for cascade over a rampart or rocks , and is a flake less sprawling then some other nepeta variety show .
‘ Walker ’s Low ’
semen of this cultivar are sterile , but you’re able to buy one- to two - year - sometime plantsfrom Nature Hills Nursery .
Nepeta nervosa‘Blue Moon’
This showy cultivar of the lesser knownN. nervosais perfect for sunny borders or in sundry container planting , as it rise in down in the mouth , slow clumps and tolerates heat well .
‘ Blue Moon ’
It has big spike of lavender blossom with just a pinch of white on the lips .
Seeds areavailable from reliable Leaf Market .
Managing Pests and Disease
Fortunately , there are not too many significant proceeds with blighter and disease for these plants .
In fact , nepetalactone , the compound they produce that attracts cats , has also been found to repel sure type of louse .
The all important oils in catmints are repellent to many common garden cuss , such ascabbage measuring worm , squash bug , andflea beetles .
Cats
If cats frequent your garden , you may want to consider true cat - proofread your plants with a wire fence .
I latterly planted some catmint in a sneaky spot out of the way where I thought my big cat surely would n’t note it .
Of course , the antic was on me ! She obtain it instantly and proceeded to immediately wander around in it .
Insects and Gastropods
Plants can still experience occasional visits from pests , and it is in force to be aware of the signs of these in case you do have a problem .
slug can sometimes be attractedto larger leafed metal money , peculiarly during the springtime . If you notice slugs bushwhack on your plants , you’re able to handpick them in the evening , peculiarly after crocked atmospheric condition .
you’re able to also examine cod them with beer traps . Just fill a shallow cup with beer and go down it into a hole in the grunge . The bullet will be attracted to the beer and fall in .
wanderer hint may come along as tiny fatal dots on the foliage , causing moved leaves to become yellow and dry .
Whitefliesandaphids can potentially congregateon leave and suck the sap from plant . Both of these plague secrete a glutinous meat call up honeydew , which can causesooty moldto develop .
A unassailable stream of pee can be sprayed on flora to remove these pests . If the job is significant , you may also spray an insecticidal soap on the leaves every match of days until the plague subsides .
Disease
Keep an centre out for a few bacterial and fungal disease that can dissemble nepeta plants as well .
Bacterial leaf spot , because of the bacterial pathogenPseudomonas , can bear upon plants during nerveless , smashed weather . You may point out sensationalistic ring spots with ruddy center on foliage , and disfigured prime .
spatter water can spread this disease , so fend off wield plant when they ’re pissed and restrain overhead watering . Remove taint foliage , and in severe cases , remove and dispose of infected plants .
because of theCercosporaspecies of fungi , result with blight may develop little spots surrounded by scandalmongering halo that embrown over time , finally have foliage to wilt and leave out . septic plants should be removed and destroyed .
Always circumvolve crops if you may , and avoid planting catmint in places that have had issues with blight in the past .
triggered by a number of different pathogens , root rot can cause stem to soften and darken , ultimately causing prow to weaken , and plants to die .
There is n’t a good style to treat root rot , but you could greatly reduce risk by institute in a emplacement with proficient drain . Remove and dispose of infected plants .
Septoria leaf spotis a fungous disease caused bySeptoria lycopersici . During very pixilated weather , circular place with dark sharpness and grey centre may appear on older leaves , eventually causing leaf drop .
Avoid handling plants when they are wet , keep widow’s weeds down , and remove and dispose of infected foliage .
Harvesting and Preserving Catmint
MostNepetaspecies are edible . Most commonly , folio and flowers can be used clean or dried to make tea .
To reap , pick the leaves and flowers while plants are blooming during midsummer .
you could reap the leaves anytime once the plant is at least six in grandiloquent , though they become more flavorful when the plant blooms , as the concentration of crude oil is the highest during this time .
The honorable time to nibble is late in the twenty-four hours , after the dew has dried . The easiest way to glean the leave is by sheer the top third of each stem .
you could take a large crop all at once , cut up to a third of each works , or pick small amounts as needed .
you’re able to dry the leaves and flowers to have uncommitted for tea leaf afterward on , or if you are growingN. cataria , perhaps to make catnip toys for your cats !
The easy way to dry out your harvest is by hanging stems in bundle in a benighted , dry place until the leaves can be tumble and pass from the stem easily .
you’re able to stack away the dried leaves and flowers in tighty lidded shabu jars in a dark closet .
Find more tips on drying fresh herbs here .
Best Uses for Catmint Plants
These long - bloom aromatic perennials are perfect for mixed plantings . The smaller mounding assortment especially make for squeamish borders along perennial flower beds , and companion plants with roses .
you’re able to also consider planting them with one-year vegetables , as they pull in pollinators and are useful for maintain louse out of the garden .
They can easy be grown in containers on the balcony or porch as well . These plant have a squeamish form for mature in pots , and can even be brought indoors during winter .
Container planting is also a good idea if you are concerned with aggressive spreading .
Quick Reference Growing Guide
Almost Too Easy
Personally , I ca n’t think of anything much better than an redolent flowering perennial that both repels pests and attract pollinators , all while supply knockout and medicine .
Not to mention hour of entertainment for my cats !
With so many uses , the light - to - grow plant in this genus are an obvious choice .
To teach more about growingother mint candy kinsperson plant life , see to it out the following article next :
© Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . in the first place published on June 6th , 2021 . Last update March 21st , 2023 . Product photos via Eden Brothers , Nature Hills Nursery , and straight Leaf Market . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
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Heather Buckner
