Growing Catnip: A Complete Profile

By Growing Home Greens Team · July 25, 2026

Catnip is a tough perennial herb in the mint family, grown as much for its famous effect on cats as for its own mild, minty-lemon flavor in tea.

Sowing it

Seeds need light to germinate, so barely cover them rather than burying them. Start indoors 6-8 weeks before your last spring frost, or direct-seed after last frost or in early fall. It’s a fast grower, reaching harvestable size around 75-85 days from seeding, and it’s hardy in zones 3-9, among the first perennials to emerge each spring.

If cats are the point, grow the straight species: it’s the one with the nepetalactone that sends them rolling. If tea is the point and you’d rather the plant survive long enough to harvest, ‘Citriodora’ gets you a lemon-scented leaf that cats mostly leave alone.

It spreads readily, by seed and by root

Left unchecked, catnip spreads readily by seed and by root, so give it a defined bed edge or a container if you don’t want it wandering. If you’re growing the straight species, it’s also worth fencing off from neighborhood cats early on. They’ll roll on and damage young plants before they’re established.

A permanent bed, fenced from the neighborhood cats

Treat catnip as a permanent perennial planting rather than part of the annual rotation, a herb bed or border works well, and well-drained soil with occasional division keeps a patch healthy for years.

Sources: Catnip, Johnny’s Selected Seeds; Catnip, Illinois Extension; Lemon-scented Plants, Wisconsin Horticulture Extension.

Companion planting guide for Catnip · Find your planting dates

Typically viable in USDA zones 3-9. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.

Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Catnip tolerates either.

See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →

How many Catnip plants fit per square foot?

Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1.5-3 ft.

Varieties worth considering

• 'Citriodora' (lemon catnip): If you're growing catnip for tea rather than for your cat, 'Citriodora' is the one to plant. Illinois Extension lists it as a distinct, lemon-scented cultivar, and Wisconsin Horticulture Extension notes it's usually not attractive to cats the way the straight species is, so it won't get flattened by the neighborhood cats before you get to harvest it. (source)
• 'Faassen': Illinois Extension describes this as a smaller, more compact form with a strong, pleasant scent, a middle option between the straight species' sprawling habit and Citriodora's lemon-scented, cat-repelling leaves. (source)

Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.

Where to buy catnip seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee
• High Mowing Organic Seeds

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See it growing

Search YouTube for "growing catnip" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)

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Growing Catnip: A hardy mint-family perennial, first up in spring every year and famously irresistible to cats.

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