🍋 Lemon verbena

Lemon verbena has the most intense, true lemon fragrance of any herb, and its slim leaves make superb tea, desserts and drinks. It is a deciduous shrub that dies back in cold winters and needs protection from frost in most of the UK.

Grow it in a large pot that can be moved into a greenhouse or porch for winter, or against a warm, sheltered wall in milder areas. Cuttings root easily, so you can always keep a spare.

Varieties to try

Lemon verbena (the only form)

Plant in May or June in a sunny, sheltered spot with fertile, free-draining soil, or in a large pot (30 cm) of loam-based compost with added grit. Seed is rarely available and unreliable, so buy a plant or take softwood cuttings in early summer.

Place against a south-facing wall for protection. Water in well, and mulch the roots for winter.

Top tips

• Buy a plant.
• Use a movable pot.
• Plant on a warm wall.
• Take cuttings as insurance.

Water regularly in summer, keeping the compost moist, and feed fortnightly with a general fertiliser. Pinch out the tips in spring for bushy growth. In October, bring pots into a frost-free place; plants shed their leaves, which is normal, and should be kept almost dry.

Prune in spring, when new growth shows, cutting back to healthy buds. Mulch outdoor plants thickly with straw or bracken for winter. Whitefly and red spider mite may attack under glass.

Top tips

• Bring pots in by October.
• Keep dry in winter.
• Prune in spring.
• Pinch out tips.

Watch out for

WhiteflyRed spider miteFrost damageLeaf drop in winter (normal)

Pick leaves from June onwards, harvesting stem tips or individual leaves. Flavour is best just before flowering in midsummer. Regular picking promotes bushy growth.

For drying, pick whole stems in late summer, dry in a warm, shady place, and strip leaves. Dried leaves hold their scent well.

Before the first frost in October, take a final large harvest of leafy stems and dry them for winter tea. Even after plants drop their leaves in autumn, you can sometimes gather the last few that fall in a tray and dry them.

Top tips

• Pick regularly.
• Dry in late summer.
• Pick before flowering.
• Strip leaves from stems.

Make a fragrant tea with a few fresh or dried leaves in boiling water. Use in custards, ice creams, sorbets, cakes, fruit salads, syrups and gin. Wrap fish or chicken in leaves before grilling.

Dried leaves keep their scent for a year in an airtight jar. Fresh leaves freeze well.

Top tips

• Steep for tea.
• Infuse in syrup.
• Dry for winter.
• Add to fruit salads.