Melissa

(Lemon Balm) Officinalis

Rub a leaf between your fingers and your garden suddenly smells of fresh lemon. That is lemon balm: a bushy herb with soft, crinkled, bright green leaves and tiny white flowers in summer that bees can't resist. Give it some room: it grows to about 70 cm tall and 40-50 cm wide, so plan on 3-4 per square metre for a full, fragrant patch. It looks lovely by the kitchen door, in a herb border or in a big pot on the patio, and the leaves are made for iced tea and fruit salads. This green friend arrives as a young plant in a 9 cm pot, and seasonal changes may affect whether it comes with flowers yet.

Give it a spot in sun or partial shade: a few hours of sun bring out the best flowering and scent, but it copes with some shade too. Plant it in ordinary, humus-rich soil that stays lightly moist and drains well, because soggy roots are the one thing it dislikes. Water in dry spells, and more often in a pot, as lemon balm droops quickly when thirsty (a good drink and it perks up again). Cut it back to a few centimetres above the ground in late autumn or early spring, and trim after flowering to keep it bushy and the leaves tasty. It is fully hardy, so no winter coat needed: the top growth dies back and fresh shoots appear in spring. It self-seeds happily, so snip off faded flowers if you want to keep it in its place.

Your order will be hand picked and packed in our strong and sustainable packaging as soon as possible, after which it will be delivered straight from our greenhouse to your door by your chosen carrier. You can follow the journey of your plants via the tracking link you receive in your mail. If you have any questions regarding your order and its shipment, you can get in contact with our support team.

We expect every order to arrive in tip-top shape. We take intensive care of the plants in our greenhouse and use special and as sustainable as possible protective packaging to ship our plants. We also wrote an extensive blog about how to unpack and prepare your plants for growth after shipping. However there are rare occasions where our plants don’t meet their full potential. That’s why all plants are guaranteed for 30 days after arrival, if still in its original nursery pot.