Organic Lemon Balm Seeds - Melissa officinalis

The packet of Organic Lemon Balm seeds (Reference: 5312242) contains seeds from organic farming of Melissa officinalis, the perennial that smells of lemon the moment you crush a leaf between your fingers.

The bee herb

Its name comes from the Greek melissa, meaning honeybee — and that is not decorative. Lemon balm is highly nectar-bearing: a clump in flower hums all summer and draws pollinators and beneficial insects into the middle of the vegetable garden.

That is what justifies keeping a place for it even when space is short: it works for the neighbouring crops. Squashes, tomatoes and beans, which depend on pollinators, benefit without your having to do anything.

A lemon flavour, without the sharpness

A crushed leaf gives off a clear lemon scent, but the flavour stays mild and free of acidity — that is what sets it apart from lemon verbena or zest. It is picked leaf by leaf, as needed, from spring until the frosts.

Fresh or dried as an infusion, in a fruit salad, on a white fish or in a jug of water: the use is culinary, and the plant tolerates being cut back hard several times in the season.

Sowing and emergence

Lemon balm comes up in 10 days, provided the soil has reached 15 °C. That is the only point to watch when sowing: sown too early in cold soil, it stalls instead of germinating.

It calls for a fertile, moist and well-drained soil, and a full sun position. The seed house rates it easy to grow, which makes it a good herb to start with.

A perennial that asks for little

Once established, it needs almost nothing. Regular watering is not necessary — only during hot spells. It is given as drought resistant, and hardy: it holds well at 0 °C and comes back on its own the following spring.

Its compact habit lets it sit in a pot on a balcony or terrace just as well as in a raised bed, without crowding its neighbours in the first year.

Specifications

Seeds from a crop grown under organic farming rules, packed in a sachet for household use.