Green & Bright

What’s lovelier to roll around your tongue than the words “lemon balm”? So simple, yet so luscious. Just like the herb it’s named for.

A profuse grower in cottage herb gardens, lemon balm is formally known as Melissa officinalis. A Mediterranean native, it’s a perennial herb in the mint family. When rubbed between your fingers, its leaves have a gentle lemony scent, and its pollen is a true bee magnet. Perhaps that’s why it’s often confused with bee balm, a relative in name only.

In the kitchen, lemon balm offers a refreshing twist on pesto, and is used to season teas, hot or cold, and to infuse rich flavor in sorbets. Its medical benefits are many: it has antibacterial and antiviral properties and is a gentle nerve calmer. In aromatherapy, lemon balm essential oil has been shown to lift moods and sharpen minds.

Precisely what budding botanists need while performing their own Garden Alchemy.

Better still, it's helpful at repelling mosquitos. Which is precisely what budding botanists need while performing their own sensory explorations, as Thymes did with our latest fragrance, Lemon Geranium from our Garden Alchemy collection.

To experience where perfumery meets botany in a lush, intoxicating sensory expression, make like a bee to lemon balm. Alight on Garden Alchemy today.