Melissa is a perennial herb with a pleasant aroma and soft leaves. It belongs to the family Lamiaceae and is ubiquitous in Eurasia and North America. This delicate plant can be grown in the garden or in a small pot on the windowsill to periodically delight yourself with fragrant tea or seasonings for various dishes. Fresh lemon supplement goes well with meat, fish and vegetables. In addition, lemon balm is used as a medicinal plant and is considered a good honey plant. Among the people, other names were attached to it: a warrior, honey, mother liquor, lemon mint. Although the latter is not entirely correct, these two plants belong to different genera of the same family.
Botanical Description
Melissa is a herbaceous perennial with highly branched rhizome and stem. A shoot with a rectangular cross section in height can grow from 60 cm to 1.2 m. It, like the leaves, has a bright green color and a rare pubescence. Opposite oval or ovoid leaflets have a raised surface. They are mottled with a mesh of veins. The edges of the leaves are serrated or serrated, and the end is elongated.
In July-August, from the second year of life, small umbellate inflorescences begin to appear at the ends of the shoots, which are located in the axils of the leaves. They consist of several small corollas with white or bluish petals. The flower is asymmetrical, with longer lower petals. In the center are visible 4 stamens and the only long pistil with an upper ovary.
Fruit ripening occurs a month after pollination. They are in the shape of a nut with four seeds. The egg-shaped fruit has a black shiny surface. Germination lasts up to 3 years. 1 g of seed contains about 1600 seeds.
Melissa has a characteristic lemon aroma. The most pleasant and intense it happens during the period of budding and the beginning of flowering, then the intensity decreases. After the flowers fade, the smell can even be repulsive.
Popular varieties
A very compact genus of lemon balm has only 5 plant species. Commonly used in culture Melissa officinalis. This perennial grows 30-120 cm in height. It has a branched stem with a rare glandular pile. In June-August, ring-shaped inflorescences from 6-12 buds appear. Each flower has a bluish-white or purple color. Leaflets of the plant are ovate. They are characterized by a bright green color.
Among amateur gardeners, decorative melissa varieties are common:
- Quadrille - raised green leaves of medium size are half closed in the outlet, the top is decorated with light lilac inflorescences.
- Freshness - a plant up to 60 cm tall has medium dark green leaves and bluish-white flowers with a lemon scent;
- Pearl - branched shoots of 80-110 cm in height are densely covered with short-leaved dark green leaves with a wrinkled surface;
- Pure gold - undersized branched bushes with bright green leaves bloom with white flowers, which eventually become light purple.
Breeding rules
Melissa is grown from seeds, and also propagated by vegetative methods. Sometimes they practice planting immediately in open ground, but it is better to grow seedlings first. To do this, in early spring, prepare boxes with loose garden soil. They try to distribute small planting material as evenly and sparsely as possible on the surface (up to 5 mm deep). It is best to cover the container with film to create a greenhouse effect. Condensate should be removed daily and the soil should be sprayed.
Shoots appear amicably within 20 days. As they grow, they are thinned out so that the distance is 5 cm. Seedlings need intensive lighting, so they are placed on the southern and eastern windowsill or use backlighting. In sunny weather, the pot is carried outside. 2-3 weeks after the emergence of seedlings, the lemon balm is fed a weak solution of nitrogen fertilizers. Upon reaching a height of 10-15 cm, pinch the shoots.
A large bush 3-4 years old can be divided into several parts. They do this at the end of spring or at the end of August, at the end of flowering. The plant should be completely dug up, freed from an earthen coma and cut with a sharp blade into equal divisions. Each should contain 4-5 strong sprouts and part of the rhizome. The resulting seedlings are immediately distributed in a permanent place. They adapt well and begin to bloom next year.
The green shoots of lemon balm during spring and summer can be cut into cuttings. They should have 3-4 knots and healthy leaves. First, cuttings are placed in water. And after 2 weeks with the appearance of small roots, they are distributed in loose nutrient soil. The whole adaptation process takes 3-4 weeks.
Landing and care
Melissa can be called unpretentious, even a tenacious plant, which requires very little care. In one place, a bush can grow for a decade, but gradually its appearance begins to deteriorate and resistance to colds and diseases decreases. Therefore, transplantation and rejuvenation is carried out already from the sixth year of life. Planting work should be carried out at the very end of spring, when the cold weather is over, because young plants are very sensitive to them.
For lemon grass, choose well-lit, but protected from cold winds areas. Loose nutrient soils with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction are suitable. Melissa grows best on loam and sandy loam. The soil is pre-excavated, large lumps are broken, and roots and weeds are also removed. River sand, broken brick or crushed stone are additionally added to heavy earth. Melissa grows strongly, so the distance between plants should be 25-30 cm (for high varieties 40 cm or more).
Adult specimens practically do not need care, as they are distinguished by great endurance. However, in the first year of life, you will need to regularly pay attention to the plant. In dry and hot weather, plentiful watering is needed, but without stagnation of water at the roots. After irrigation, the soil is loosened and they try to immediately remove weeds. So that the soil is not taken by the crust, near the plants it is mulched to a height of about 5 cm
As soon as the shoots begin to bloom, they harvest. Usually, all vegetation is cut to a height of 10 cm above the ground. Most modern varieties can produce up to four crops per season.
Immediately after trimming, they are fed with liquid mineral complexes (superphosphate, ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride). Do not fertilize before flowering. It is periodically useful to use organics.
Melissa is resistant to frost. If there is sufficient snow cover, she is not afraid of any cold, but if no snow is expected, the soil at the roots is mulched with fallen leaves. With aging (from 6 years of age), winter hardiness gradually decreases, which can lead to freezing of plants.
With proper care, pests and plant diseases are not afraid of melissa. If the insects settled on the branches, you can try to get rid of them with a soap solution and bathing in a hot shower. When using insecticides, the harvested crop cannot be used as food.
Useful properties and contraindications
Medicinal lemon balm or lemon grass contains a large number of active substances:
- essential oil;
- flavonoids;
- tannins;
- coumarins;
- trace elements;
- macrocells;
- vitamins;
- saponins;
- sterols.
The entire terrestrial part of the plant is used as medicinal raw material. It is dried under a canopy and crushed. For medicinal purposes, decoction, tea, essential oil, alcohol and water infusions are used.
Drugs have a pronounced sedative effect. They relieve spasms, contribute to the treatment of insomnia, and also have choleretic, diuretic and carminative, hemostatic, healing effects. Tea with fragrant leaves reduces blood pressure, slows breathing, soothes the inflamed mucous membranes of the digestive tract and relieves nervous tremors.
For women, lemon balm is especially useful, because it normalizes the menstrual cycle and relieves pain, is used in the treatment of inflammation of the appendages and complications during menopause. During pregnancy, the plant eliminates toxicosis.
Among the contraindications, the most serious are hypertension, mental disorders and allergies. You should not abuse lemon balm to people who need an increased concentration at work. In case of an overdose, attacks of nausea and vomiting, drowsiness, diarrhea, and muscle weakness are possible.
