Lemon Verbena:

Lemon Verbena is among the most pleasant-smelling plants in the world. Rubbing or bruising or cooking with the foliage releases a clear, delicious lemon smell, very similar to that of lemon grass, and more lemony than most lemons.

The flowers are tiny white things in loose, airy clusters at the ends of branches, definitely not a showy display. The leaves are 3 to 4 inches long and about ˝ inch wide, medium green and glossy, and deciduous. They usually grow in whorls of three, but sometimes there are four leaves at a whorl or only   two.

The general appearance of the unpruned plant would probably be called rangy, although with regular trimming, it can bush out quite nicely, and is a classic subject for topiary standards.

Lemon Verbena is a plant I think all warm climate cooks need in their gardens. It’s excellent added to ice tea, tucked under a piece of baking fish, or dropped into a vegetable soup like a bay leaf.

The plant leafs out kind of late in the spring – late April for the north hemisphere - and can make you think it has died with the winter cold. In mild winters it tries to hold on to its leaves, but, if they´re too cold, it is always deciduous eventually. In really cold years it may freeze back quite a ways, but unless the soil freezes, it will return with vigor.

Plant it in a place that gets at least a few hours of unobstructed sunlight. Great container plant, but remember that containers can freeze sooner than the soil.

Culinary Uses

- Sprinkle over salads or vegetables for a lemony flavor.

- Use to flavor stuffings for meat.

- Stir into herb butter or cottage cheese.

- Makes a refreshing tea in combination with mint or alone. Good served iced.

- Use liberally when on a low salt diet. Try combining with dried celery and lovage leaves.

Other Uses

- Put leaves in the vacuum cleaner to freshen the house.

- An infusion will make a nice skin freshener an toner.

- Flowers can be used in arrangements.