Catnip

Charming catnip (Nepeta cataria), which brightens the garden with its delicate purple flowers that butterflies love, and with its bright, wrinkled, triangular leaves, yes, the catnip that cats go crazy for, is also a wonderful medicinal herb for us humans as well.   Catnip has soothing and anxiety-relieving properties and is also a mild sleep aid.  It makes a wonderful tea, although not everybody likes its somewhat minty, slightly oily taste.  Its leaves can be mixed with mint, chamomile, or lemon balm to make a very pleasant calming and relaxing tea.  I sometimes like it all by itself and enjoy the taste with or without a sweetener.  But that’s just me.  I don’t care to drink it every day, although I did for a while last summer, when it looked so fresh and pleasing in the garden.  Usually by the end of the summer it looks a little trampled, after the neighborhood cats have been rolling around it to get “high.”  It dies back to the roots each winter, but always returns with a flourish in the earliest days of spring.

     Like all herbs, it is important to get to know catnip in a careful and respectful way.  A very few people might have a mild allergy to it, and it should be avoided by anyone who is pregnant.  It’s also a good example of "too much is not always a good thing."  A cup or two are fine, but too much can cause stomach upset, which is really strange because in reasonable amounts it actually helps with stomach cramps!