LEMON VERBENA

Aloysia citrodora

Lemon verbena is a versatile plant used for teas, cooking, soaps and cosmetics and as an accent plant in an herb garden. A very hardy plant, growing about 2m in the garden, it has beautiful lemon scented foliage.

PLANT

Best time to plant lemon verbena is during late spring.

HARVEST

Lemon verbenas is ready for harvest within 6-8 weeks after planting. Gather sprigs as desired. In spring start to prune by nipping out the top shoots, and this encourages the plant to bush out nicely as it can get scraggly. As the season progresses continue to cut flowers and make these into a delightfully scented bouquet for indoors. Leaves can be harvested all year round, but particularly fragrant in spring and summer. The plant can grow up to 2m metres tall.

Eat

To make a herbal tea, simply put leaves in a pot with boiling water, let it brew, then enjoy!

PRESERVE

Drying leaves can be done by hanging them upside down by the stems in a paper bag. This should only take a couple of days and leaves will last (and retain aroma) for many months.

RECIPES

Use fresh lemon verbena to make this shortbread.