SCHIZONEPETA SEEDS

Schizonepeta tenuifolia

Also known as Japanese Catnip. Employed in Traditional Chinese Medicine as an anti-viral, this species also makes a fantastic tea. The fragrance of both fresh and dried plants is powerful. The dried bracts alone will perfume an entire room, even for weeks after you've threshed and winnowed the seeds. Trust me.

Large plants grew to 5' in my garden, although it is more often listed as 2'-3'. Attractive fragrant foliage is very at home in an annual border, especially alongside Cosmos. Purple flowering spikes in late summer. Foliage turns a nice dusky pink in autumn. May benefit from some support in rich soil moist soil. Requires full sun. Tolerates extreme heat and drought once established.

Tea is made from the fresh leaves and flowers and has a heady sweet fragrance and flavor, with some acrid notes that are easily softened with honey. Sun-dried bracts (and sometimes leaves) are used to make medicinal teas and tinctures. Clinical studies suggest that extractives of this species inhibit viral attachment and replication. Used extensively to treat colds and flu, and the subject of continued research in the treatment of enterovirus infection, for which there are very few if any effective pharmacological preparations.

This species is widely used in China, Japan and Korea for various culinary and medicinal purposes. It is rarely grown in American gardens, which is a shame because it is just a pleasure to have in the garden. The likely reason for its shunning in the West is its pulegone content. Pulegone is a constituent of Pennyroyal, another plant eschewed by many Western herbalists. But pulegone is present in most, if not all, mint species, at least to some degree. It is only dangerous in the high doses obtained from essential oils distilled from these plants. Teas made from the aerial portions of pulegone-containing species, especially in combination with other herbs, possess virtually no dangers. However, pregnant women wishing to stay that way may choose to avoid this species out of an abundance of caution.

Easy to grow. Start indoors about 8 weeks before the last spring frost. Press seeds into moist soil, just barely dusting with additional soil or fine vermiculite, and mist generously. Kept warm and moist in bright light seeds germinate in a week or so. Transplant into individual 3" pots once seedlings have true leaves. May also be sown outdoors into warm soil where seasons are long. Plant where you will have the chance to brush against it and fill the air with its pretty perfume. Schizonepeta is an annual that has not self-sown in our gardens.

Grown by Farmacie Isolde.

Packet contains at least 50 seeds.