Catnip, Heirloom Herb Seeds

Catnip — The Hardy Perennial Herb With Lemon-Mint Calming Tea, Lavender Bee-Magnet Flowers, and Culinary Young Shoots

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a hardy, multi-purpose perennial herb best known for its euphoric effects on cats — but equally valued by gardeners for its wonderful calming tea with an appealing lemon-mint flavor, its lavender flowers that are especially beloved by bees and butterflies, and its culinary young shoots that can be eaten raw in summer salads, added to stews, or rubbed into meat. Light green foliage with lavender flower spikes make it a beautiful and productive addition to any herb or pollinator garden. Thrives in poor, dry, sandy, and hot soils where other herbs struggle — easy to grow from seed, though germination is slow. Cut back after bloom to reduce self-sowing.

Why Grow Catnip?

• Lemon-mint calming tea — wonderful flavor, soothing and aromatic
• Bee & butterfly magnet — lavender flowers especially beloved by pollinators
• Thrives in poor, dry, sandy soil — grows where other herbs won’t
• Culinary young shoots — raw in salads, added to stews, or rubbed into meat
• Hardy perennial — returns year after year in Zones 3–12
• Open-pollinated heirloom — save seed year after year

Growing Notes

Sow seeds indoors 6–8 weeks before last frost or direct sow outdoors in spring. Surface sow or barely cover — seeds need light to germinate. Note: germination is slow — be patient. Transplant or thin to 18–24 inches apart in full sun to part shade. Catnip thrives in poor, dry, sandy, and hot soils — avoid overwatering and rich soil which encourages floppy growth. Cut back after bloom to reduce self-sowing and encourage a second flush of flowers.

Packed and shipped by Box Garden Seeds LLC — heirloom seeds grown without GMOs, selected for flavor, resilience, and your garden’s success.