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One summer, I gardened for an herbalist in her gorgeous herb garden. This was an herbalist whose work had inspired me deeply. So it was a bit of a dream to work in her gardens.
One beautiful sunny day, I was in a bit of a mood. I can’t recall what was going on, but I do remember I was grumpy. My task was to weed the lemon balm rows.
To get there, I walked past the main garden, over a rock wall, and through some trees into a sunny opening. This is where the lemon balm patch lived.
By that point in the season, the lemon balm had turned into large, vibrant green mounds. To weed them, you had to immerse yourself in the bed and basically become one with the lemon balm. With each movement, the plant released its aromatic lemony scent, flooding my senses.
It didn’t take long before I realized I was no longer grouchy. In fact, I was completely blissed out, present, alert, and aware of the incredible natural surroundings I was in.
I had worked with lemon balm before, but this was my first time working with so many plants at once. It was amazing.
The medicine and gifts plants offer don’t always come by way of harvesting and ingesting them or applying them topically. The medicine can also come from simply spending time tending, observing, and being with the plants.
Lemon balm, also known as Melissa officinalis, is a beloved member of the mint family, Lamiaceae. Its genus name, Melissa, comes from the Greek word for bee, which makes perfect sense once you see how much pollinators love this plant.
Lemon balm has an unmistakable lemony scent and distinct, slightly wrinkled-looking leaves. The leaves are oval-shaped with scalloped edges and deep veins that give them a textured appearance and feel. They grow in opposite pairs along square stems, one of the classic signs of the mint family.
When you rub the leaves between your fingers, they release that bright, citrusy aroma. To me, that scent is one of lemon balm’s most immediate gifts.
Lemon balm also grows the sweetest little flowers, often white, light pink, or pale yellow. The flowers grow in whorled clusters around the stem and tend to show up here in Maine around late June or early July.
Here on the farm, we grow lemon balm in long hedgerows out in the fields for production, but I also have it intentionally tucked around the other gardens. I like to have it nearby no matter what part of the farm I’m on.
Lemon balm is a cooling, uplifting, aromatic herb that has long been used to support the nervous system, digestion, and emotional well-being.
Herbalists often reach for lemon balm when someone is feeling hot, tense, worried, scattered, or emotionally worn down. It has a way of helping us soften, cool down, and come back into ourselves.
Traditionally, lemon balm has been used to:
I personally love lemon balm for those moments when I feel challenged, stuck, or too hot in my own mind. Lemon balm feels like a good listener. Sometimes it gently shares possible options, and other times it feels very direct and clear, even when the answer is uncomfortable.
It helps me keep my cool.
Lemon balm has been worked with for thousands of years. It was used medicinally by the Greeks and Romans, and records of its use go back to around 300 B.C.
Throughout history, lemon balm has been associated with longevity, emotional balance, melancholy, digestion, bees, abundance, wisdom, and the divine feminine.
The common name “balm” comes from a word referring to a sweet-smelling resin. Lemon balm has also long been connected to bees. Beekeepers historically rubbed the leaves on hives to entice new swarms or encourage bees to return.
There is something about lemon balm that feels both light and deep. Bright and ancient. Simple and wise.
If you have the space to grow lemon balm, I highly recommend doing so. It makes a wonderful addition to the garden and can be used as a leafy green border, tucked into herb beds, or grown in containers.
Lemon balm is hardy, fast-growing, and generally easy to grow. It prefers humus-rich, well-drained soil, but can grow in average garden soil. It loves full sun but can tolerate part shade. Here on the farm, I’ve noticed it grows beautifully in areas that stay slightly cooler, with soil that is moist but well drained early in the season.
You can start lemon balm from seed, cuttings, or plant divisions. I usually start seeds in flats in the greenhouse in spring, but once you have lemon balm in your garden, it will often self-seed.
You can also take cuttings from a strong, healthy plant. Choose a 6–8 inch stem, cut right above a set of leaves, and place it in soil or water. In a week or two, it will often grow roots and be ready to plant.
Here in Maine, I harvest lush, vibrant lemon balm right before it flowers, often around mid to late June.
If the plants have already gone to flower, no worries. They can still be harvested. But if you catch them before flowering and cut them back, they will often bush out and you may get a second harvest.
When harvesting, choose healthy, beautiful leaves. If the plant is in flower, watch for bees, because they love lemon balm flowers.
Even though we grow plants on the farm that are meant to be harvested, I still ask for permission and consent. I let the plants know my intention, why I would like to harvest them, and how they will be used.
Plants may not talk to us out loud, but they do communicate. Sometimes the answer comes as a feeling, a thought, a sense, or an image.
Lemon balm can be used in so many wonderful ways.
Here at Herbal Revolution we grow our own large lush rows of beautiful lemon balm, harvesting close to 1000 lbs of it a year to use in our products. Well loved products like our Attitude Adjustment Elixir and many tea blends like Tulsi Rose Tea, Mother Lovin’ Tea and Relax Tea.
When I’m not using lemon balm in our teas, which by the way I LOVE making iced tea all summer long, I love using lemon balm on its own in a whole variety of ways.
Lemon balm makes a beautiful addition to foods. Try adding the fresh leaves to salad dressings, marinades, compound butter, infused olive oil, or summer drinks. The flowers can be used to decorate food or frozen into ice cubes.
An all time favorite of mine is to work with lemon balm by making infused honey. You can add it to our herbal acv tonics to make delicious refreshing drinks and or to our herbal teas, drizzle it on toast, stir it into drinks, use it in baking, or make it into a simple syrup.
This is one of my favorite simple ways to preserve the bright, uplifting flavor of fresh lemon balm.
Gather your lemon balm leaves and gently chop them.
Place the chopped leaves into a clean 8-ounce jar. I like to use jam jars.
Pour honey over the lemon balm until the jar is full and all of the leaves are completely covered.
This part is important: fresh plant material contains water, so any leaves exposed to air can spoil. Make sure the lemon balm stays covered in honey. You can do this by shaking the jar daily and checking that the leaves remain submerged.
Let the honey infuse for 1–4 weeks.
Once infused, strain out the leaves and store the honey at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
You can eat it straight from the spoon, add it to tea, stir it into sparkling water or cocktails, drizzle it on toast, mix it into honey butter, or use it in baking and cooking.
It’s simple, delicious, and such a lovely way to carry a bit of summer lemon balm into your kitchen.
I want to encourage you to spend time with lemon balm.
If you’re not already growing this luscious plant, consider planting one in your garden or growing it in a container. If that isn’t an option, see if it grows in a local community garden or public garden. You could also reach out to a local farmer or herbalist and ask if they’d be willing to let you spend time with their plants, especially in exchange for weeding.
Working with plants is an experience that calls on all of our senses.
Bring a journal the next time you spend time with lemon balm. Notice what the plant looks like. How do the leaves feel? What do they smell like? What do you notice about the stem? What do you hear around you? What does the plant bring up in you?
Lean in and smell the leaves. What comes to mind? Does it remind you of anything? Does it shift how you feel?
If you feel ready, ask the plant if you can harvest some. If permission is granted, give thanks. Snip just above a set of leaves and leave plenty of growth behind.
Then bring your harvest inside and make something with it.
Tea. Honey. Food. Medicine. A moment of connection.
And sometimes, the medicine begins before you ever harvest the plant.
Family: Lamiaceae
Part used: Leaves, flowers
Energetics: Sour, cool, neutral
Actions: Antidepressant, antioxidant, antispasmodic, anxiolytic, antiviral, carminative, nervine
Contraindications: Theoretically, taking large amounts of lemon balm can have effects on people with hypothyroidism and taking Synthroid or other thyroid stimulating medications.
