When to plant Catnip/Catmint
Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.
Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.
Representative timing, by climate band
When to plant Catnip/Catmint in four US climates
Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.
| Stage |
Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY |
Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN |
Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start seed indoors | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Direct-sow outside | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Transplant outside | Apr 22–May 20 | Mar 24–Apr 21 | Feb 10–Mar 10 | – |
| Fall planting | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Expected harvest | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a hardy crop. In climates like this one, hardy and semi-hardy crops typically go in during the cooler months (fall through late winter), not on a frost-relative schedule.
Catnip goes into the ground around your last frost date, and it barely matters if you're a few days early or late. University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension describes it as a "vigorous, but short-lived, herbaceous perennial," hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9, dying back to the ground each winter and returning from the root (Catnip, Nepeta cataria). Set out transplants from two weeks before to two weeks after that date.
If you're starting from seed, UW-Madison says only to sow indoors "a few weeks before the last frost," without a specific week count, so that field is left blank here rather than guessed. Catnip also reseeds readily once established, per the same source.
Nurseries most often sell catnip, and its ornamental cousin catmint (Nepeta spp., hardy to roughly zones 3 through 8 in general extension and nursery use), as a potted division rather than seed, and both are set out on the same frost-relative schedule; Clemson Cooperative Extension's Herbs factsheet (HGIC 1311) treats catnip the same way. Because it's hardy to zone 3, it overwinters outdoors across nearly this entire site's range, with no tender-annual version of this plant to flag for warm climates.
Frost hardiness
Hardy. Tolerates hard frost. Can go in the ground before the last frost date.
Sourcing notes
UW-Madison Extension: catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a 'vigorous, but short-lived, herbaceous perennial' hardy in USDA zones 3-9, dying back to the ground each winter; if grown from seed, sow indoors 'a few weeks before the last frost' (imprecise wording -- no exact week count given, so sow-indoors field left blank rather than guessed). Reseeds readily. Ornamental catmint (Nepeta spp., ~zones 3-8 per general nursery/extension use) is treated the same way here since both are grown and set out on the same frost-relative schedule.
Related crops
Growing zones for this crop
Nurseries near these locations
Sources
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, Herbs (HGIC 1311) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Horticulture, Catnip, Nepeta cataria (accessed 2026-08-04)