Catnip is a must-have herb if you own cats—but it's also a genuinely useful herb with a long history of medicinal and culinary use. A member of the mint family, it produces small white flowers on tall, bushy stems and is extremely low-maintenance. Whether you're growing it for your cats, for its herbal properties, or simply as a hardy, pollinator-friendly perennial, catnip is an easy and rewarding addition to the herb garden. SHIPPING INFO: Herbs primarily ship in May. Why Grow Catnip? 😸 Your Cats Will Love You For It: Snap off a few leaves for your cats to play with fresh, or dry them to use in cat toys. Your cats will adore you. 🐝 Pollinator Friendly: The small white flower spikes are a favorite of bees, and catnip produces blooms for an extended period through summer. 💪 Tough and Low-Maintenance: Catnip is a hardy, drought-tolerant perennial that comes back year after year with very little attention. Growing Information 🌱 Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial 🌱 Plant Height: 18–36 inches 🌱 Hardiness Zones: 3–9 🌱 When to Plant: Spring, after last frost 🌱 When to Harvest: Harvest leaves and stems as needed throughout the season; best just before flowering for peak potency Cultivation Tips Soil: Well-draining soil of average fertility. Catnip isn't fussy and will grow in a wide range of soil conditions. Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade. Watering: Water regularly until established, then water sparingly. Like most mint-family herbs, catnip is quite drought-tolerant once settled in. Harvesting: Snip stems just above a leaf node to encourage bushy, full growth. For drying, harvest just before the flowers open and hang bundles upside down in a cool, airy spot. Dried catnip retains its potency well and makes great homemade cat toys. Cat protection: Fair warning—if you have cats, they may find your catnip plant and roll in it. Young plants are especially vulnerable. Consider covering new transplants with a wire cloche or garden netting until the plant is large and established enough to handle some feline attention. Spreading: Catnip spreads by both seed and runners. Deadheading spent flowers helps keep self-seeding in check. Medicinal & Herbal Uses Before catnip became famous in cat toys, it was a well-established medicinal herb in European folk medicine. Some of its traditional uses include: Relaxation and sleep: Catnip tea has long been used as a mild calming herb, traditionally drunk before bed to promote relaxation and restful sleep. Digestive support: Like many mint-family herbs, catnip has traditionally been used to ease digestive discomfort, bloating, and gas. Cold and fever support: Catnip tea was a traditional remedy for colds and fevers, often used to encourage sweating and help the body work through illness. Our catnip is greenhouse-grown and arrives as an established plug in a 3" pot, ready to go straight into your garden or container. Non-GMO Commitment: At The Farm on Central, all our plants are guaranteed non-GMO and not genetically modified in any way, upholding natural breeding methods and promoting sustainable gardening and farming practices.
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