Lemon Balm is a culinary and medicinal herb with superb lemon scented leaves. It is easy to grow from seed and low-maintenance.
It has deep green serrated leaves and small white flowers that appear later in the season. It grows to about 24 to 36 inches tall.
Lemon Balm is one of our favourite herbs. In summer, we pick the fresh leaves to infuse in water for an iced tea, for a hot tea, and use the fresh leaves in salad and as a medicinal. In the fall, we dry the leaves to use as tea over the winter.
Harvest the fresh leaves any time during the summer, even after the tiny white flowers have appeared.
Fresh is best for this herb, as that is when Lemon Balm’s essential oils are at their peak.
You can also overwinter a plant of Lemon Balm. We have had the same Lemon Balm plant growing inside for several years. It makes a wonderful house plant! We use the leaves as needed.
In Zones 4 and up Lemon Balm is perennial (plant it once and it will come back year after year).
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Why is Lemon Balm good for us? (or skip down to ‘How to Grow‘):
In the paper “Antiviral Potential of Melissa officinalis L.: A Literature Review”, Behzadi and colleagues (2023) provide a comprehensive review of the herb’s attributes. They write:
“Melissa officinalis is … utilized for its carminative, antispasmodic, sedative, analgesic, and tonic effects alongside its antioxidant and antiviral effects. Moreover, many articles emphasized the antiviral effect of Melissa officinalis against several viruses (such as HSV-1,18 CPV,19 HBV,11,20,21 HCV11,20,21) and confirmed its effectiveness as an alternative therapy against several viral infections…”
“Some studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of lemon balm against different diseases such as HIV-1, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Lemon balm is a rich source of phenolic compounds such as thymol and carvacrol, which are the potential reason for the antibacterial and antioxidant activity of the lemon balm plant. The antimicrobial characteristics of lemon balm have been used against Gram-negative bacteria, including Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus, Klebsiella and Gram-positive bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Sarcina lutea, betahemolytic Streptococcus, and Bacillus cereus.”
And specifically regarding Lemon Balm’s antiviral effects, they write:
“Today, research has shown that this plant can also fight viruses including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) through various mechanisms such as inhibiting HSV-1 from binding to host cell, inhibiting HSV-1 replication during the post-adsorption or inhibiting main protease and spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, furthermore, be effective in treating related diseases.”
Lemon Balm is a powerful ally in health.
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How to Grow Lemon Balm from Seed? Ease of Germination: Easy. direct sow in spring or start indoors 4-6 weeks before the last frost date. Light dependent germinator; cover seeds with a very light covering of soil. If you don’t want Lemon Balm to be a perennial, just plant it in a pot for the summer.
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Location: Sun, Partial sun
Life cycle: Perennial (Zone 4 and Up) or Grow as an Annual
Usable Parts: Leaves (dried, fresh)
Uses: Tea, Tincture
Height: 24 to 36 inches
