Catnip
Nepeta cataria
The true catnip: a bushy, aromatic, grey-green herbaceous perennial herb with toothed, downy, mint-like leaves and summer spikes of small white, purple-spotted flowers. POWO (Kew) gives its native range as across Europe and Asia, and it has naturalised worldwide. Its leaves carry nepetalactone, a powerful euphoric attractant for cats — roughly two-thirds of cats respond by rolling, rubbing, and chewing — so expect neighbourhood cats to flatten it; the same compound has documented repellent activity against mosquitoes and some insect pests. It is a tough, drought-tolerant, easy herb that self-seeds and can spread and flop, so cut it back hard after flowering for a fresh, tidier flush. It is hardy across USDA zones 3a-9b. RHS lists Nepeta cataria as a hardy aromatic herb for bees and culinary/herbal use and rates it fully hardy (H7). It is a traditional human herb too — catnip tea is a mild, calming infusion and the young leaves have culinary use — and a good bee and pollinator plant. Note this is the species catnip (Nepeta cataria), distinct from the sterile ornamental catmint hybrid Nepeta x faassenii.
Climate fit: moderate (56/100)
Pollinator
Border
Edible
Light
Full sun / Part shade
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
24-36" tall · 18" apart
Hardy in zones
3a-9b
brutally cold to frosty winters
Native in Illinois
No
Related products
Sponsored
Shop gardening supplies for Catnip on Amazon ->
Plotwright may earn a commission from purchases made through this link, at no extra cost to you.
The summer spikes of small white, purple-spotted flowers are a good source of nectar and pollen and draw honey bees, solitary bees such as mason and leafcutter bees, and hoverflies, making it a reliable, busy bee and pollinator plant.
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Well-suited
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Well-suited
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✓
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 41 ecoregions — 40 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today. Best matches first.
Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
›
Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
›
Arizona Mountains forests
›
Atlantic coastal pine barrens
›
Blue Mountains forests
›
Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
›
Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
›
Central Tallgrass prairie
›
Central-Southern Cascades Forests
›
Chilean Matorral
›
Similar plants
Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.
Calendula officinalis
Calendula (pot marigold)
An Old World cottage-garden annual grown for daisy- to chrysanthemum-like flowerheads (3-4 inches across) in bright yellow through deep orange, often with a contrasting darker center disk. In cool climates it blooms over a long summer-to-fall window; in hot summers it tends to languish and may need a midseason cutback to rebloom. The somewhat bitter flowers and lance-shaped aromatic leaves are edible, and the petals lend color to soups, rice, and baked goods.
Tulbaghia violacea
Society garlic
Society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) is a clump-forming perennial herb from South Africa grown for its long season of small, star-shaped lilac-pink flowers, carried in airy umbels on slender stems well above narrow, grassy, grey-green leaves from late spring into autumn. The foliage is garlic-scented, and the leaves and flowers are edible, used like garlic chives in South African cooking — the friendly name comes from its milder, more sociable garlic breath. It is an easy, drought-tolerant, long-flowering choice for sunny borders, edging, and containers, and a reliable bee and butterfly plant. Native to the Cape provinces and KwaZulu-Natal, it is reasonably hardy (to about USDA zone 7 with sharp drainage) but can be cut back or lost in a hard winter, and the garlic scent is reputed to deter some insect pests and even moles. RHS gives Tulbaghia violacea (and the cultivar 'Silver Lace') its Award of Garden Merit and rates it half-hardy (H3).
Agastache foeniculum
Anise hyssop
An upright, clump-forming perennial of the mint family native to the upper Midwest, Great Plains, and into central Canada, named for its anise-scented foliage. From June through September it carries dense terminal spikes of lavender-to-purple two-lipped flowers above square stems and opposite, toothed leaves. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags it as a nectar source with special value to native bees, bumble bees, and honey bees, and it also draws butterflies and hummingbirds.
Salvia officinalis
Garden sage
A Mediterranean evergreen subshrub with gray-green velvety foliage + lavender summer flowers. Among the most useful kitchen herbs + a strong nectar source for honey bees, native bumblebees, and solitary bees. Perennial in zones 4a-8b; longer-lived in well-drained alkaline soils.
Hyssopus officinalis
Hyssop
A compact, semi-woody aromatic herb of the mint family with narrow, dark-green leaves and dense spikes of deep-blue (occasionally pink or white) flowers from midsummer onward. A classic cottage- and knot-garden plant, hyssop is one of the very best bee and butterfly plants in the herb border, drawing honey bees, solitary bees, and nectaring butterflies to its blue flower spikes. It is also a traditional culinary and medicinal herb: the leaves and flowers carry a strong, bitter, minty-camphor flavour used sparingly in cooking and as a flavouring in liqueurs (it is one of the herbs in Chartreuse). Long grown as Hyssopus officinalis, its accepted botanical name is now Dracocephalum officinale, though it remains universally known and sold under the familiar Hyssopus name. It is native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean across to central Asia (POWO, Kew), and carries that origin into the garden: it is easy, drought-tolerant, and sun-loving, asking only full sun and sharp drainage, and it gets woody and straggly unless clipped after flowering to keep it neat.
Aronia melanocarpa
Black chokeberry
A drought-and-flood-tolerant native shrub of eastern North America with brilliant three-season interest — spring white-pink flowers, glossy black antioxidant-rich late-summer berries, and brilliant wine-red fall foliage — plus an extraordinarily wide cold-hardiness range (USDA 3a-8b). The berries are astringent fresh but the basis of a small but growing commercial industry (juices, wines, jams, supplements) for their exceptionally high anthocyanin content. Spreads by suckers; site where colony formation is welcome.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Catnip (Nepeta cataria). Retrieved 2026, June 25, from https://plotwright.com/plants/nepeta-cataria
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
Plants of the World Online (POWO)
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
Success tips
Designer notes