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No. 09 · September 2025 Herb of the Month

Lemon Balm.

Melissa officinalis

An herb of calm and good cheer — brush a single leaf and summer's lemon rises to meet you.

“

Balm comforteth the heart, and driveth away all melancholy.

— John Gerard, The Herball, 1597

Lemon balm, with its crinkled green leaves and bright citrus scent, is one of the garden's great mood-lifters. Known botanically as Melissa officinalis — Melissa being simply Greek for "honeybee" — it has been grown for over two thousand years for the heart, the spirits, and the hive. Native to southern Europe and western Asia, it grows with cheerful ease, asking only to be brushed against so it can give up its lemon.

I.

A rich history
and cultural significance

Lemon balm and bees go back a very long way. Beekeepers have rubbed it inside empty hives since antiquity to settle a swarm and keep the colony home — hence its name, Melissa, the honeybee.

Physicians prized it just as highly. Avicenna recommended it to gladden the heart; the great herbalists called it a cure for melancholy; and Paracelsus went so far as to name it an "elixir of life." Carmelite nuns distilled it into a famous restorative water still made today.

Through it all, lemon balm kept its gentle reputation — a symbol of sympathy and good cheer, planted by the door to lift the spirits of all who passed.

II.

Culinary magic
in the kitchen

Lemon balm offers all the brightness of lemon with none of the sourness. It's best used fresh — drying robs much of its perfume — and shines in anything cool and summery, from teas to fruit to fish.

Quick ideas to try
a.

Lemon balm tea

A handful of fresh leaves steeped for a calming cup, hot or iced.

b.

Herbal lemonade

Muddle leaves into lemonade or sparkling water for a lift.

c.

Fruit & fish

Scatter chopped leaves over fruit salad or a fillet of white fish.

d.

Citrus pesto

Blend with basil for a fresh, lemony twist on the classic.

From the garden

Lemon Balm in three states

Man touching lemon balm.
August 22, 2025 Crinkled, bright-green leaves — fragrant the moment you touch them.
Honeybee on lemon balm.
August 22, 2025 Tiny pale flowers draw the bees its name has always promised.
Lemon balm in a pot.
August 22, 2025 Happy in a pot, where its enthusiasm can be kept politely in bounds.
III.

Health benefits backed
by tradition and science

Lemon balm is a classic gentle nervine — calming without dulling — and one of the most pleasant medicinal herbs to take. It owes much of its power to rosmarinic acid and its bright aromatic oils.

Calm & sleep

A soothing nervine that eases anxiety and helps you wind down at night.

Mood & focus

Studies link it to greater calm and, at the same time, sharper alertness.

Cold sores

Applied as a cream, it may speed the healing of herpes-simplex outbreaks.

Digestion

Settles a nervous, fluttery stomach and eases bloating.

Antioxidant rich

Rosmarinic acid again, lending anti-inflammatory support.

A word of caution. Lemon balm is remarkably gentle and safe in food and tea. In large medicinal doses it may add to the effect of sedatives or interact with thyroid medication — worth a word with your doctor if either applies.
IV.

Growing your
own lemon balm

If lavender is fussy, lemon balm is the opposite: it grows almost anywhere, in sun or part shade, and shrugs off neglect. The only catch is its enthusiasm — it self-seeds with abandon, so shear it back after flowering or keep it in a pot to stay friends with it.

Hardiness
Zones 4–9
A tough perennial that dies back in winter and returns faithfully each spring.
Varieties
'Lime' · 'Aurea'
Golden and variegated forms brighten up a part-shady corner.
Care tips
Cut back hard
Shear after flowering to keep it from self-seeding all across the bed.
Propagation
Seed or division
It nearly propagates itself; lift and divide clumps, or let it self-sow.
Final thoughts

Few plants give so much for so little. Lemon balm asks only a patch of ground and an occasional brush of the hand, and returns calm, cheer, and the clean scent of lemon on a warm afternoon. It is, as the old herbalists insisted, very good for the heart — in every sense.

Plant lemon balm by a path you walk often — and greet it with a fingertip each time.

“An essence of balm, taken every morning, will renew youth and strengthen the brain.”

— The London Dispensary, 1696
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