Lemon Balm: A Bee's Favorite

Melissa officinalis

Lemon balm is a member of the mint family, and like most of its relatives, it does not do anything quietly. Brush against it, bruise a leaf, and the whole plant releases a bright, unmistakable lemon fragrance. It is the leaves we grow this plant for. The flowers are small and white and easy to miss, though the bees never miss them, the plant's Latin name, Melissa, means "bee" in Greek, and it earns that name every summer in our gardens.

Lemon balm is a short lived perennial native to the Mediterranean, though it has settled happily into most of North America. The one exception is the far north, where plants can be lost over winter if snow doesn't arrive early enough to insulate the roots. It's hardy in zones 3 through 9, and even in ideal conditions most individual plants only live about three years. Give it full sun and well drained soil and it will reach about two feet tall, filling out into a lush, fragrant mound. One plant is genuinely enough - I don't plant it in threes the way I do many herbs because a single lemon balm will fill its space and then some.

Of every herb I grow, lemon balm is the happiest to spread. Left to its own devices, it will seed. The trick is regular harvest. Weekly cutting before it blooms keeps the plant in a tidy, well behaved shape and keeps it from going to seed. I let mine bloom late, in September, once the bees have had their season with the other flowers and could use the extra forage. It's also happy in a container, which is where I'd point anyone gardening in a small space or anyone who simply doesn't trust themselves to keep up with the harvest.

Lemon balm earns its keep in the vegetable garden, too. It repels a number of common pests, which makes it a good companion planted near vegetables. Be ready to treat it as an annual there or pull it back hard each season.

I don't recommend starting lemon balm from seed. Germination is unreliable, and you'll have far better luck dividing an established plant or buying a seedling from a source you trust.

Once the plants have filled into that nice mounded shape, harvest becomes simple: cut the leaves before the plant blooms, and do it weekly if you can. This is one of the few plants where I actually prefer working with dried material over fresh, both for tea and for extraction. To dry, use a screen method or hang the stems in loose bundles in a dark, well ventilated space for five to ten days, then store the dried leaf in glass jars, labeled and out of the light.

For a tincture, use dried leaf at a ratio of one part herb to five parts vodka, or an alcohol and water mix that's about sixty percent water to forty percent alcohol. Let it sit in the dark for twenty eight days, then strain, press, and store away from light - it will keep for up to ten years. For an infused oil, dried leaf again, one part herb to ten or fifteen parts oil (jojoba is my preference), left to sit at eighty degrees for eight days, then strained (never pressed) and stored out of the light.

In practice, I reach for lemon balm most often for the nervous system, particularly that specific flavor of high stress and anxiety that shows up as overwhelm. There's research suggesting its nervous system support may extend to helping regulate insulin, the hormone that governs sugar absorption and is itself sensitive to stress. In the digestive system, it eases gas, diarrhea, and cramps. And for the immune system, it has a long history of use with cold sores caused by the herpes virus.

One of my favorite cooling tisanes in the summer - it's delicious iced:

3 parts lemon balm
1 part licorice root
1 part Chinese white chrysanthemum blossom

Mix and store in an airtight glass jar for up to a year. Lemon balm is the base here, licorice gives it body, and the chrysanthemum adds a light, floral accent - the whole blend drinks a lot like a good green tea, which makes sense, since lemon balm makes a lovely substitute for green tea entirely.

Lemon balm has never asked much of me beyond a firm hand with the pruners. In exchange, it hands back a leaf that calms an overwhelmed nervous system and fills the garden with the kind of fragrance that makes you stop mid-task just to touch a leaf.

P.S. July’s Apothecary Box features Lemon Balm, so if you're feeling called to spend more time with this gentle, generous plant, this month's box is a beautiful place to begin.