What do you do with...catnip???

That is right! Just what do you do with catnip? I mean bunches of catnip? This is another of the plants that I am babysitting for my son and daughter-in-law while they are in Arizona. I had no idea that this plant would grow so much! It is huge now! I have never grown catnip before and the only use that I have ever known was to drive your cat bananas. Sorry..my cat, Ms Put is already crazy besides she doesn't even look at this stuff. Consequently, the catnip is about to outgrow its pot. They had planted it in the same pot as a basil plant and both are several feet tall and as many wide. Now granted, I do keep the basil in check by using quite a bit of it in cooking and I dry a lot of it for later use but what about this other stuff?? Should I make little cat toys and stuff them with the leaves? Hehe..I could covertly give them to all my cat-lover friends and let their cats all become as wacko as Ms Put! Now there is an idea! My son was determined to let me know that I should use this herb as much as the basil. When he unloaded the huge flowerpot containing the basil and catnip, he promptly picked off a leaf and ate it. "See, Mom..it is edible!" Well, I knew that..but so are magnolia leaves and I have no desire to munch down on those either. I thought, "Just how big can one catnip plant get anyway?" and told him that I would take good care of it. Oh! Was I wrong??!! The plant is gargantuan! Not being one to waste anything, I did a bit of research on catnip and discovered that I have been missing out on what appears to be one fantastic herb! There are so many things to love about this plant (other than driving "other" people's cats insane!) that I will try to root more. I would love to overwinter this plant in a greenhouse if I ever a bigger one built! This plant is so useful in herbal remedies that I can only imagine how much I will use! It contains a chemical called nepetalactone (the stuff that affects cats) that can be used as a sedative, antispasmodic and antibacterial. It can also be used as a pain killer and used to reduce fever. A tea made with the leaves can also be helpful as a decongestant! Woohoo! A new herb to be added to my vastly growing collection. I will be drying catnip as well as the basil. Thanks, Kids for introducing me to another great herb!

Today in the garden, I noticed that the Red Buckeye Tree was heavy laden with its seed pods. They should be busting open sometime within the next month and I will be sure to collect the "nuts" as they drop. These "nuts" are poisonous to humans so I am not gathering them for food but rather as seeds. I just love this small shrub-like tree because it is such an attractant for hummingbirds and bees. Blooming in March, it is one of the first flowers that the hummers have to feed from after a long winter. Hopefully, the seeds will sprout and grow into more beautiful little trees. Since it only gets about eight or ten feet tall, the Red Buckeye is a great complement plant in the flower garden. They can be found growing wild in any wooded area around here. I actually rescued mine from a site where bulldozers were clearing for new homes. It always breaks my heart to see so many wonderful plants being smashed under the heavy

machinery and I was fortunate enough that this crew let me dig out at least one of the bushes. I saved a tree!!! It has repaid me well each spring with lovely flowers and lots of visiting hummingbirds! The only downside is that it goes dormant relatively early in the year (late September or early October) and stays bare of leaves until early Spring. Still it is one of my favorites.