My herb garden is flourishing again in the fresh spring sunshine, and I'm so happy to have it back. Fresh herbs are one of the most important ingredients in my cooking, and it's so lovely to have a little patch out back and on the porch where I can snip mint, basil, and oregano. Some of my favorite herbs in this little garden are lemon-scented — so fresh and citrusy! Here's a look at five lemon-scented herbs and how to grow them.
None of these herbs are direct substitutes for real lemon, but they certainly have their own similar citrus scents and freshness of flavor. They are all easy to grow and great for the garden.
Most of these, in fact, are only going to be found in your garden. That's one benefit of gardening: You can grow specific varieties of herbs (and other things too) that can't be found easily in the stores. Other than lemongrass, I've never seen any of these lemony herbs for sale. So pick one (or more!) and grow something lemony this summer! All of these grow just great in pots.
- Lemon verbena - We've talked about lemon verbena before, and this is still one of my all-time favorite herbs. It's a summer necessity in the garden. It has probably the brightest, tangiest lemon flavor of all these herbs. It has beautiful flowers in the spring, as seen above, and it makes a delicious tisane. Steep in hot water and add a splash of St. Germain liqueur if you're feeling fancy. You can also steep this herb in cream or milk for flavored pudding, panna cotta, or whipped cream.
- Lemongrass - Lemongrass may be the most well-known of all these herbs. It's used extensively in Asian cooking, especially Thai and Vietnamese. It has a fresh lemon scent, and a slightly grassy flavor. It grows marvelously in the garden when provided with steady warmth and water. (In Florida and tropical locations this can grow into a bush of enormous size!) In the northern garden, you can grow this as an annual herb.
- Lemon thyme - This is one of my favorite varieties of thyme. It's less intense than other varieties, and it has a strong lemon taste. It also has these lovely variegated green and yellow leaves, so I grow it for the color as much as for the taste. I use it in soups, stews, and even salads.
- Lemon balm - Lemon balm is in the mint family. It has rounded serrated leaves, and it grows in mounding clumps. Now, since lemon balm is a mint, you should know two things: 1) It will grow just about anywhere as long at it has a good amount of water. 2) For the love of Pete, don't put this stuff in your garden! Grow it in a pot, or a pot sunk in the ground, but don't put it in the soil. It will grow like a weed, and you'll never get rid of it. Having said that, if you do grow this (in moderation!) it makes a soothing tea when steeped in boiling water and a pretty garnish for desserts.
- Lemon basil - There are so many flavored varieties of basil (chocolate, cinnamon, licorice, lime...) and lemon is another favorite. This makes a wonderful pesto. It also is great over fish or other seafood dishes. Like all basils, lemon basil needs plenty of sun (mine gets about 8 hours of direct sun per day).
Do you have any of these in your garden? What's your favorite? Do you have any good recipes or uses for these (or other!) lemon-scented herbs?
Related: Eating From the Garden: Meyer Lemon Spring Salad with Baby Greens, Herbs, Almonds and Goat Cheese
(Images: Faith Durand and Flickr member quinn.anya licensed for use under Creative Commons)
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
TW Salt Mill by Wil...
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
How timely, I just bought lemon verbena, lemon thyme and lemon balm for my garden! Now I must go and dig up the lemon balm and put in a pot...
@swig, seriously! I bought some last year for the raised bed herb garden, but this was a waste of money, because shortly thereafter I realized that it was growing rampant through our entire lawn...
LOL Lemon Balm...I planted some in pot and left it there over the course of a season... The next season, it started appearing where the potted plant USED to be. Now it's traveling up the lawn (must have underground runners). Frankly, I love the stuff. It's the best weed ever.
i love my lemon thyme plant! i find the stems are not woody like regular time so you can just cut up the whole stem instead of peeling the leaves back.
i have regular basil growing in a pot on the same windowsill as other herbs, but the basil gets all these little green bugs on it- anyone have any recommendations? i keep washing them off, but they keep reappearing.
@amycywang - Look up a homemade recipe for onion and garlic soap spray (if they're aphids as I suspect, that'll do the trick).
I planted Apple Mint (or maybe it was pineapple mint, I can't remember) in a little patch of dirt in front of my father's front porch before I moved to San Francisco, and it has since started growing all around the yard and the foundation of the house.
I think my mother planted lemon balm in one of the other gardens many years before, and by mid June it's usually grown over everything else in that area. The bees love it.
Lemon geranium, the leaves can be used whole or chopped up in cooking and baking. They're large enough that a lot of scented geranium recipes have you line the pan with them for a scented, flavored cake.
Hey, where's the part about how to grow these herbs? I've struggled with my potted lemon verbena, it's a bit leggy, and I'm looking for advice. I've grown the others, too. Lemongrass I find to be a bit fussy in my climate (zone 6).
Whoops! Neglected that for lemon verbena. I do find that lemon verbena does much better in the ground; some people even say it overwinters and turns into a woody shrub in zone 6.
But I do grow it in a pot, too, and there I habitually clip it back to force it to grow more side branches. It also may need a little more sun than you're giving it, perhaps...?
I love lemon thyme! I have kept mine in a pot since last spring. Great flavor, and it has stayed fairly small so the stems are tender.
Lemon Myrtle is perhaps better than all of them. Along with the macadamia nut it is one of the two great success stories of Australian Natives.
Hang on, Lemon Verbena is another name for Lemon Myrtle.
Or not. The leaves look the same but the flowers are different.
Last year a friend gave me a lemon balm plant which I planted in the ground. It grew into a shrub! This spring it is surrounded by millions of babies.
I just planted a single-herb herb garden that features 7 kinds of basil, including lemon basil! You can see it here: http://remarkablydomestic.com/2010/05/07/single-herb-herb-gardens/