Many people have grown catnip in their outdoor gardens for their cat's enjoyment but this herb plant has appealing human benefits also. Catnip is known as Nepeta Cataria, a herb that reassembles the mint plant with the whole plant including the flowers and the minty fragrance.
You can grow catnip in the ground or in containers. I recommend that you grow catnip close to your outdoor seating area because when the flowers bloom they are very fragrant. Plus if there are mosquitoes you can break a stem to get at the catnip oil. Spread this oil onto your exposed skin and repel mosquitoes.
Here are photographs of catnip that I grow in my garden
Catnip herb can also be used for the treatment of human colds, fevers, and migraine headaches. Harvest the leaves of the catnip for herbal tea. Catnip tea is good when you want to relax. You can also smoke catnip, some say the herbal cigarette has wonderful relaxation properties.
Grow catnip from seed or buy a nursery-grown plant at a local garden center. Transplant catnip after the threat of frost has passed to a garden area that has full sun and well-drained soil.
Catnip is not fussy about the soil and will tolerate most soils. Plant the seeds in rows. Space the seed 12 inches apart. Cover the seed with 1/8 inch of soil and water the well. Keep the soil evenly moist but not wet throughout seed germination. You can grow from seed indoors or outdoors. I have had good results from sowing seeds outdoors.
***If there are cats in your yard then you must take precautions to keep your catnip plants safe as cats will eat the seedlings.***
2 comments:
I never knew that us humans could use catnip too. Great article!
😎👍 I had no idea that people could benefit from catnip! WOW! Also,how can I find the "like" and "follow this blog" options? I haven't used blogger in awhile, but I thought there is a follow option 😲
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