Muffy the Cat Nip Killer

We have been carefully nurturing the root of cat nip that we acquired at Easter.  Acquired is a very generous term, in reality  the plant was uplifted during a visit to a garden visit over Easter – but don’t tell anyone.  We popped it in a glass of water and it came with us on our caravan travels.  Muffy showed great interest in this plant and we had to rescue it from her amorous advances on several occasions.  In fact, we had to resort to putting it away in the fridge overnight so that she didn’t climb up and over the bench to chew it while we were asleep.

The idea was to pot it up when we returned home.  But that seemed much too difficult to me, so I simply dug a hole in the herb garden and planted it there.  That was a foolish move indeed.  Muffy soon found the plant, pulled it out of the soil, and nibbled at the leaves till she was satisfied.  We found the sorry looking half dead root lying on top of the bark chips, carried it carefully inside and popped it back in a glass of water.  Perhaps it will revive – or perhaps not.

Cat Mint in flower

Our sorry looking specimen.  Will it survive?

Now whenever she goes outside, Muffy approaches the herb garden hoping for the return of her mind altering plant.  She sniffs around carefully, just in case one of her humans has planted another one for her. Perhaps she will take a fancy to parsley or chives instead?

According to Google, catmint is an aromatic herb that produces clusters of lavender-blue flowers amid mounds of gray-green foliage. It is thought to have been first cultivated in the Roman town of Nepeti, where it was used as herbal tea and insect repellent. Perhaps we will have to purchase another plant and care for it properly, planted in a pot well out of cat climbing range.  Then we can pick a sprig for Muffy now and again so she can forget she is an elderly lady and roll about in ecstasy.