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| Photo Credit: Joe Seals |
| Small lavender flowers cover catnip plants in midsummer. |
Catnip causes a mighty strange reaction in cats. Different cats have different experiences, but they generally roll around in the plant, rubbing it all over their bodies (a very dog-like response!). This lasts a few minutes, after which the cats walk off with their tails in the air, as if to say, “We still have our dignity!” But they always come back for more. (We actually had a cat that was not excited by my patch of catnip; it turns out that some cats, and especially kittens and older cats, are not affected by the plant.)
So why grow your own? Most of the catnip plants that can be purchased at the nursery or garden center are different species or hybrids and don’t initiate the same reaction in your cat. True catnip is known as Nepeta cataria; the rest are Nepeta “something-else.” Another reason to grow your own is freshness; catnip in store-bought cat toys may have been around for a long time, losing its potency with each passing day. Catnip plants are also pretty – they have pale lavender flowers for six weeks or more during the summer. The leaves are gray-green and have a pleasant scent. And bonus: The plants are very easy to grow, are drought-tolerant and mix well with other perennials. The seed is relatively easy to find – look for it in the herbs section. Plant it indoors about two months before your frost-free date, or plant seed directly outdoors after all danger of frost has passed. It’ll sprout in two or three weeks and grow quickly.
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