Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) - Aromatic Medicinal and Culinary Herb

Currently pruned back.

With its distinctive, fresh lemon scent, lemon balm - also simply called balm - is an absolute asset to any herb garden. It is not only a fantastic seasoning herb and a tried-and-tested medicinal plant, but also a real bee magnet!

Strong plants in 9 cm pots.

Growth & Appearance

• Lifespan: Perennial, frost-hardy plant.

• Growth height: Reaches a height of 50 to 90 cm depending on the location.

• Habit: Bushy and upright growth with lush green, heart-shaped, serrated leaves.

• Flower: From July to August, small white to delicate pink labiate flowers form, which are an extremely important food source for bees and bumblebees.

Location and care

• Location: Sunny to partial shade and sheltered from wind.

• Soil: Well-drained, loose, moderately moist and nutrient-rich.

• Care & Spread: Lemon balm grows very vigorously! It likes to spread in the garden via root runners and self-seeding. If you want to prevent this, you should cultivate it in pots or rigorously prune it back before flowering/seed ripening. Pruning also encourages fresh, bushy new growth.

Origin Lemon balm originally comes from the eastern Mediterranean region and West Asia. In the early Middle Ages, Benedictine monks brought the plant across the Alps to Central Europe, where it has since become established in cottage gardens.

Ingredients The plant owes its valuable properties primarily to its essential oils (citral, citronellal and geraniol), which provide the intense lemon scent. It also contains important tannins (especially rosmarinic acid), bitter substances and flavonoids.

Use

• In the kitchen: Perfect for refreshing teas, lemonades, cocktails or as an aroma in desserts, fruit salads and quark dishes. The fine lemon aroma also goes wonderfully with fish and poultry. Tip: Always use the leaves fresh and do not cook them, otherwise they will lose their aroma!

• As a medicinal plant: Traditionally valued for its calming, antispasmodic and slightly antiviral effects. Often used for nervous sleep disorders, gastrointestinal complaints or in ointments against cold sores.

Historical facts Lemon balm has a royal past: In 812, Charlemagne ordered in his land estates ordinance (Capitulare de villis) that this herb must be grown in all monastery and apothecary gardens of his empire. The famous physician Paracelsus (16th century) even called it an "elixir of life". In addition, it is still the main ingredient of the famous "Karmelitergeist" (known e.g. as Klosterfrau Melissengeist).

Curiosities The botanical name Melissa comes from Greek and simply means "honey bee". This name says it all: the plant magically attracts bees. Even in ancient times, the scholar Pliny recommended rubbing new beehives with lemon balm leaves to attract swarms and bind the bees to their new home.