Can any gardeners help me?

[spook]

Either mint is exceptional at soothing your stomach. Catnip was used in the olden days with fennel to help collic in babies, stomach cramps and muscle spasms. I thought it looked like Spearmint, but that is wonderful too.
Here on my acre we cannot grow catnip. Each year, we try, but it grows well in the living room window- lucky cats! We tend to give them the soothing green leaves when they get upset stomachs.
A lot of people will take a 6" or more barrier dug down to prevent the roots from spreading, keep in mind that they produce seeds! Dead head those flowers if you don't want seeds.
Good luck and the plant looks wicked happy!

 

[SterlingAcres]

Thank you everyone for your help!!

I have plenty to spare, if anyone happened to want any

 

[Bebop]

Well, when I get settled, I could trade chocolate mint for spearmint!
I do this all the time with other gardeners online!
>^.^<
Gardenweb.com is a good exchange/giveaway website!

 

[seedcorn]

sure, bring me a start to IN.........

 

[cyrixlord]

Quote:
thanks for those pictures of catnip and mint! I do see the difference now. I think i'm growing spearmint myself and yes, it gets into everything. kinda of like bamboo

 

[silkiechicken]

Part of the mint family for sure, and just like mint families go, once they get established, off they go. Short of fire bombing the place, you might never rid of it!!!

Made the mistake with catnip. I tried to grow some in a pot, didn't work at all. Threw the pot out and the rest of the seeds. To this day, about 15 years later... I STILL cannot get rid of the cat nip!!! It has gone feral and the barn cat's are now immune to it's seductive effects!

 

[Bebop]

Quote:
There's a saying about catnip: "If you set it, they will eat it. If you sow it, they won't know it" lol Some cat's don't care for it too.. I had no idea.

 

[silkiechicken]

They even ignore it after it is picked chopped and presented to them! Pesky buggars. But I did read somwhere that up to a third of cats don't have the receptors for the active ingredient in catnip, so it's just another plant to them. Maybe I have a pack of feral (spayed) cats who are all in the same no cat nip receptor family. LOL

 

[Reinbeau]

I'm an herbalist, I've got catnip, and I find it very easy to get rid of provided you get it young - it does seed all around. Think that's bad, grow agastache, I've got it everywhere - I rip most of it out and leave a couple of plants for the bees, they love it. For that matter they love all of the mints. You can contain mint, I find it's best to put it where you don't care and let it go. I've got lemon balm (also in the mint family), spearmint and some special cultivar of mint (sorry, I can't remember, the label is out there) growing at the base of a tree way down in the backyard, I don't care what it does down there

Basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, thyme, lavender, and perilla are all members of the same family, the Lamiaceae, along with the ornamental salvias (sage is a member of that branch) and coleus. All of them have square stems, it's a good way to identify them.

 

[hanginwithmypeeps]

Does it smell like regular mint or spearmint? It looks exactly like mint and mint will take over a garden area!

Break off a leaf and squeeze it between your fingers......rip up the leaf...what does it smell like? If mint....and no weed killer or pesticide has been used recently...mint tea!