Latin name: Melissa officinalis .

Description :
In the Middles Ages lemon balm was used to soothe tension, to dress wounds, and as a cure for toothache, skin eruptions, mad dog bites, crooked necks, and sickness during pregnancy. It was even said to prevent baldness, and ladies made linen or silk amulets filled with lemon balms as a lucky love charm.

It has been said the world over that Lemon Balm was good for promoting long life.

Lemon Balm grows to about 3'. The flowers are a pale yellow and it blooms from July to September. Bees are attracted to the scent, especially when the leaves or stem have been bruised.

Plant in full sun, with a little shading in the noon day sun. Sow your seeds in the spring, and divide established plants. Keep trimming the established plants in the summer, cut back after flowering to help prevent self seeding. In the fall divide established plants, or transplant any that may be sneaking all over the bed. Mulch in the winter if you have severely cold weather.

To harvest: Pick leaves throughout the summer for fresh use. For drying, pick just before the flowers begin to open when flavor is best. Don't bruise. It does not keep for a long time loosing much of its therapeutic value.

Lemon Balm can be grown in a container. Lemon balm tea is said to relieve headaches and tension and it helps restore memory. Try drinking it after meals to ease digestion, flatulence, and colic. Use fresh or frozen leaves in infusions, for the oil tends to disappear during the drying process. The oil used in aromatherapy is recommended for nervousness, depression, insomnia, and nervous headaches. Lemon balm is one of my favorites. Though it does tend to creep around the beds, but I just transplant into a bare spot somewhere else.

Actions: antibacterial, antidepressant, antigonadotropic, antihistaminic, antihypertensive, antispasmodic, antiviral, carminative, diaphoretic, digestive, emmenagogue, hepatic, nervine, peripheral vasodilator, sedative, stomachic, thyroid stimulant

Traditional use: anorexia, anxiety, canker sores, common cold, depression, depressive illness, fever, flatulent indigestion, gastrointestinal disorders, Graves' disease, headache, heart palpitation, herpes simplex, indigestion, influenza, insect bites, insomnia, menstrual cramps, migraine, mumps, nervousness, neuralgia, neurasthenia, Newcastle disease, painful menstruation, toothache, tumor, vaccinia