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

With its unmistakable, fresh lemon scent, lemon balm - also simply called balm - is an absolute enrichment for any herb garden. It is not only a fantastic seasoning herb and a proven medicinal plant, but also a real bee magnet!

Strong plants in 9 cm pots.

Growth & Appearance

• Lifespan: Perennial, frost-hardy plant.

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

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

• Bloom: 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 & Spreading: Lemon balm is very vigorous! It likes to spread through root runners and self-seeding in the garden. If you want to prevent this, you should cultivate it in a pot or rigorously prune it before flowering/seed maturity. Pruning also promotes 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 over the Alps to Central Europe, where it has since become native to 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.

Usage

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

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

Historical Lemon balm has a royal past: In 812, Charlemagne ordered in his capitulary (Capitulare de villis) that this herb must be cultivated 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, for example, as Klosterfrau Melissengeist).

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