The Many Benefits and Uses of Lemon Balm

Lemon balm is a useful, tasty, perinneal herb. If you don't have room or want a separate her garden, herbs can be helpful to other plants or look great combined with other plants. Want to spruce up your herb garden? Plant some beautiful thyme along the edge of your flower bed. Plant basil near your tomatoes. Lavender looks snazzy plnated next to roses. Sage can be used as a small shrub, and nasturtiums can be intermingled with veggies, and in window boxes and containers.

Lemon balm also serves as helping to attract bees to help pollinate vegetable plants. The official name for Lemon balm is Melissa officinalis. Lemon balm is in the mint family. You can tell this by the square stem. Lemon balm can be grwon in the sun or shade in ordinary garden soil and requires no special care.

Lemon balm has a plain appearance. It grows into a small bush about 2 feet high with medium-size crinkled attractive green leaves, with very small nondesript flowers later in summer. They offer a strong lemon taste and fragrance. Lemon balm is a self-seeder. It is also good to repel pesky mosquitoes. Rub a handful of lemon balm leaves on exposed skin to keep those pests far away.

Lemon balm also makes a good tea that is calming, lowers blood pressure, lifts minor depression, relieves anxiety and fatigue, helps to rid headaches, settles an upset stomach, and maybe helps you to live longer. Lemon balm is also antiviral. Europeans use lemon balm to make a salve to treat herpes. To make lemon balm tea, take a handful to lemon balm leaves and put them in a teapot. Pour over some boiling water and let it steep for 15 minutes. Remove the lemon balm leaves, add honey, and enjoy. You can also use lemon balm leaves to make lemon sun tea. Put a handful of leaves in a large jar with cool water and steep in the sun for a few hours. Strain out the leaves. Add honey and ice, and you have a cure-all refreshing summer drink. These beverages are safe to drink for all ages, even small children.

Lemon balm is best used before flowering and can also be picked and hung up to dry for later use.

Did you know you could make a fruit salad with lemon balm? First you will need: 5 mangoes, chunked, 1 can of drained pineapple chunks or fresh pineapple, 3 sliced bananas, about a dozen leaves of lemon balm cut in chiffonade style, 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger, 2 containers of Dannon vanilla yogurt. Put fruit in a large bowl. Add yogurt, lemon balm, and ginger. Mix gently until fruit is well coated with yogurt. Chill for several hours covered with plastic wrap and serve.

Plant some lemon balm in your garden today!