Susannah,

The lemon balm makes great tea...I also have mine in full sun and it loves it...it died back in the winter but is back in full swing now. I can't wait to have my tea again.

I have had good luck just taking a succulent leaf and sticking it into soil. I got a bunch of leaves through the mail a few months ago and they have taken off...some better than other but I have found if you just leave it there and leave it alone it does grow. Does the life saver plant smell bad? Look an awful lot like my carion plant.

Tea it is then.

The lifesaver plant doesn't smell at all (had to go out on the deck to check when you asked.) I've got a tiny piece in a pot that I'll baby when I remember. We'll see.

S

Well, mosquito season is upon us. I woke up this morning to a smell I associate with the beginning of summer in Virginia, that balmy beginning of summer smell. I love that smell, it always makes me feel like school is almost over.

Of course, down here, it means that the mosquitoes are going to be back soon. I'll have to try the lemon balm. Having lived in places where mosquitoes carried pretty awful diseases, I'm a little weird about the bugs. I don't use chemicals on anything in my yard but me! One dose of dengue, also called break bone fever, will do that to you. But maybe I can ween myself off the deet with a little lemon balm!

Susannah, you just inspired me to reference one of my favorite books on herbs. I just pinch my lemon balm occasionally to smell it, but its so puny I haven't actually done anything with the leaves, though I love the thought of using it as a tea and an alternative to skeeter spray.

Quoting from the "Herbal Yearbook" here. "Lemon balm is often known by its botanical name, melissa (the Greek word for bee) as bees are attracted by its scent." "Lemon balm is frequently used freshly chopped in salads or added to soups and egg dishes. It also partners fish well. Fresh lemon balm leaves make a refreshing tea, either served hot with a dash of honey or cold poured over ice cubes, or mixed with sage." "Lemon Balm leaves are excellent added to pot pourris as they keep their scent when dried."

Here's the recipe for Sage-leaf tea:

Infuse 2 tsp fresh sage, 2 tsp fresh lemon balm, 3 tsp sugar and 2 lemon quarters in 1 pint hot water for 5 minutes. Strain and cool the liquid, then add white wine.

Sounds refreshing!

Regarding your lifesaver succulent, I'm not proud of my kill rate with succulents. I killed the mother of the one I swapped with you at Ricky's last fall...another one bit the dust!

I have a lemon balm plant that has been doing well for a couple of years..the heat gets my mints in the summer. Some plants do better than others. I chop it up and throw it in rice, or chicken or fish..or salad dressing.

I read somewhere that people used to carry bouquets of it, just to sniff every once in a while. Cutting it back makes it grow bigger...

The lemon balm not only makes a good cup of hot tea (crushing the leaves by themselves and pouring boiling water over it to steep will do it for me), but it is great added to regular iced tea, in place of a slice of lemon. As noted above, it's good with fish, too. I lay sprigs of it right on top of the fish before cooking for about 8 minutes in the microwave. I love it, and when it is happy, it makes such a nice, big bushy looking herb. I once had one that filled a whiskey barrel half to overflowing, all by itself.

Good stuff!

Marcia

My lemon balm is on the east side of the house and is quite happy to just get bushy were it is, unlike my Thai basil next to it that is growing up and over everything trying to find more sun. I prefer it to lemon basil because it has a much stronger lemon scent. And as Marcia said, a big happy lemon balm bush is a happy sight. Especially when you run your hand through it.

I keep forgetting the mosquito trick, but the leaves are great for tea or soup. A few leaves goes a long way though in your soup, especially if you end up with some leaves in your bowl. But the leaves are so big its hard to harvest it fast enough to actually put a dent in its growth.

I was wondering about the lifesaver plants.Do they do better in little stones and a mixture of dirt do I need to feed them and what kinnd they keep lifting out when I toouch them they ar very hard to grow I got one lifesaver flower and it was perfect how do you keep it to bloom more lifesavers?Basiccally I jusst want to know how to take care of the thing anyone out there vvcan help me?Would appreciate the advice