Plant · P-132

Catnip

Nepeta cataria

Catnip repels mosquitoes and a long list of garden pests - cabbage moths, aphids, flea beetles, cucumber beetles, squash bugs and ants - by smell rather than by killing on contact, so it works as a companion plant without harming the pollinators it also feeds. Its flowers are a strong draw for bees and butterflies, so the same plant repels and feeds insects on the same patch of ground. Leaves make a mint-like salad green and an aromatic tea, and it has a long history as a gentle, child-safe herbal sedative for colds, digestion and restlessness. It self-sows aggressively and cats will roll on it hard enough to flatten a plant, so it is worth deadheading before seed set and planting more than one.