Catmint: The Natural Way To Go

I'll go crazy over anything with the word cat in it. I have a ton of cat memorabilia, ranging from pins to covers, to an actual cat. So I guess we can say I am obsessed. More obsessed than cats with catmint. When I first saw catmint in the MHS amphitheater, the purple leaves and fragrance tricked me into thinking it was lavender, and not a plant related to catnip.

Catmint 

Catmint, scientifically know as Nepeta mussinii, is apart of the mint family Labiatae, the same family that catnip is apart of. They are native to Asia, Europe, and Africa. It is a perennial plant, which comes back every year in a bigger size. They are varieties of catmint that are able to grow up to eight feet. They can bloom about anywhere during the fall and summer, as long as they have sun and water. They are able to survive through tough conditions like bad soil and harsh winters. Once rooted they are able to handle drought. They are fashionable plants; easy to pair with any other plant due to their soft colors and are a great source of nectar for many pollinators.

Cat Smelling Cat Nip 

There are many varieties of Catmint. There is Six Hills Grant, Little Titch, Blue Wonder, Japanese, Faassen, Persian, Walker's Low, and the most popular Catnip. Catnip, scientifically known as Nepeta cataria, is the most popular perennial herb of the family because of the effect it has on cats to go wild. Check out this video to see how cats react to catnip. Catnip is different from Catmint because it is not grown for an ornamental purpose, instead, it has a weedy appearance and their flowers are white. While catmint and other varieties may have an effect on cats, catnips have the most effective because of the high dose of nepetalactone, which triggers a euphoric response in cats. Cats are unable to feel the effects of the compound until they are at least six months old. After about thirty minutes of being exposed to catnip, cats build up a temporary resistance to the nepetalactone. Other than attracting cats, nepetalactone is used in humans to relax them, whether in tea or in a sedative.

Catnip and Catmint also attract other species like butterflies, hummingbirds, and bumblebees, which help your garden pollinate. They help maintain the diversity of our ecosystems where plants can provide protection and are the base for the food chain. Without pollinators, our ecosystem would suffer and our diets would be limited, where we would lack many of the nutrients we need to stay healthy. They are able to protect themselves and continue to promote the ecosystem by being a natural repellent to rabbits and deer. Instead of using toxic chemicals to keep animals away from your garden, all you have to do is plant Catmint. Toxic pesticides cause harm to everyone around it: the environment and humans. As we try to better our plant for the future, we need to put an end to the large supply of chemicals into our atmosphere and ground which leads to contaminating the water and then leads into a vicious cycle of death. We need to form a plan that will help fix what has been done already and improve it for the future. This plan would put Catmint to play as repellents of animals to promote pollinators for the better of the ecosystem.

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