Is this Catnip or some other herb? Or a weed?

[PunkRotten]

HI, Could this be Catnip?

Sorry for the sideways pics:

[applestar]

It *looks like* catnip. Have you rubbed a leaf and smelled it? Do you have a test cat?

[rainbowgardener]

I would have said anise hyssop, but all those mint family things look similar. If it is anise hyssop, the crushed leaves will have that lovely licorice-mint smell (in fact licorice mint is another name for it).

Besides the smell, distinguishing markers would be that catnip leaves are quite hairy on the underside and anise hyssop leaves are only very slightly hairy. The catnip has long, slender petioles (leaf stems); anise hyssop has short ones.

Let us know what you think...

It will be more distinguishable when it flowers. But if it is outside and it is catnip, I would expect it to have been crushed already. I have never been able to grow catnip, because the cats crush it before it gets very big.

[PunkRotten]

I will test the smell out soon. My cat doesn't respond to catnip so I can't test it that way. Maybe it was meant to be that way cause my cat is already hyper and aggressive as it is.

[rainbowgardener]

So does it smell like catnip or licorice mint OR ???? That shouldn't be a hard test to perform.

[PunkRotten]

Sorry I was meaning to update. I smelled it and it smelled like licorice/anise. But to make sure I had someone else smell it and they agreed it had licorice/anise scent. It was a good guess because I did plant some Anise Hyssop around my house but in this particular bed I did not. The thing is, this one is growing the best out of all of them. I am so glad I didn't rip it out I almost did when it was small. It is growing in poorish soil with only about 2-3 hours of sun.

[ElizabethB]

Just a thought - mint of any type planted in the garden is extremely invasive. Your Grandchildren's grandchildren will never be able to get rid of it. I limit my mint - which I love, including catnip for my girls to hanging baskets. Made the mistake of planting mint in the ground only once. It took 5 years of ripping it out to finally get rid of it. Anyway - grow mint/catnip in containers.

[Susan W]

I was thinking on a long shot, anise hyssop! Don't worry about wildly spreading as they are fairly tame. They are pretty, usually no serious problems/bugs. Flowers a good bee/butterfly magnet, well so I'm told. I'm looking for more blooms this season! Leaves for your teas. You can cut back for teas etc, and they will get more bushy.

Enjoy!

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah anise hyssop is what I said above and I agree hyssop in my garden does not spread (even as much as I would like it to), despite being in the mint family. Lemon balm though ... It is another mint family one and it is the most aggressive mint in my garden, getting quite weedy.

[PunkRotten]

It's pretty strange, I have 3 different mints in the ground and none of them have ever really taken off. They stay in a mound and to be honest I wish they grew more. Early this year the sweet mint sent out some runners but I just pulled them up and that seemed to keep it in check.

[Susan W]

On the catnip and anise hyssop....
I knew I had up potted 2 - 3 catnip to 4" pots. I was checking on them, not seeing them, realized they were next to some anise hyssop starts. The pots marked. The sniff test clarified any doubt, but easy to overlook subtle differences when small and together in a 'flat' tray.