If you ever visit my garden, you'll find it sprawling somewhere it probably shouldn't be. Spilling over the edges of its bed, nudging out whatever was planted next to it, filling the air with that soft, lemony sweetness the moment you brush past it.

Lemon balm. Melissa officinalis. My favourite herb in the world.

I've been meaning to write about her for a long time. Today feels right.

A herb with a thousand year history

Melissa has been grown, used, and deeply loved by healers for over two thousand years. The ancient Greeks cultivated it specifically for bee keeping. Melissa is the Greek word for honeybee and they believed that a garden rich in lemon balm would keep bees happy, healthy, and close to home. There is something quietly poetic about a herb named for the creature that pollinates the world.

Paracelsus, the Renaissance physician and alchemist, called it the "elixir of life", believing it capable of completely reviving a person. Carmelite nuns in 14th century France distilled it into Carmelite Water, a remedy they prescribed for nervous headaches, anxiety, and melancholy that remained in use across Europe for centuries. Medieval monks grew it in physic gardens as one of their most relied-upon herbs for lifting the spirits of the sick.

In almost every tradition that has worked with plants for healing - European herbalism, Ayurveda, traditional Persian medicine - lemon balm appears in the same context, again and again. Calm. Comfort. The nervous system. The heart.

What does she do for the nervous system?

This is where lemon balm earns her place as my absolute favourite.

Melissa is one of the most well-researched nervine herbs available, meaning she works directly and gently on the nervous system. Studies have shown that rosmarinic acid, one of her key active compounds, inhibits an enzyme that breaks down GABA in the brain. GABA is your body's natural calming neurotransmitter - the one that tells your nervous system it is safe to stand down.

In plain language: lemon balm helps your body hold onto its own calm for longer.

She reduces anxiety without sedating. She quiets a racing mind without dulling it. She is the herb you reach for when everything feels like too much and you need something to take the edge off gently, without side effects, without dependency.

She is also, and this matters deeply to me, completely safe for children.

My daughters have a cup of lemon balm tea when they're overwhelmed and it has quietly become a ritual we all adore - now not just because we're overwhelmed, just because we like the feeling when we drink it. There is something extraordinary about watching a small child instinctively reach for a plant that has been calming small children for two thousand years. The wisdom in that is older than any of us.

What does she do for the skin?

Lemon balm's benefits don't stop at the nervous system. Applied topically, she is genuinely remarkable.

Her rosmarinic acid is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, helping to calm reactive, irritated, and sensitised skin. She has well-documented antiviral properties, particularly relevant for skin that is prone to viral-triggered sensitivity. She supports the skin barrier, soothes redness, and brings a quality of calm to the skin that mirrors what she does internally.

There is something I find deeply satisfying about an ingredient that works on both levels simultaneously by soothing the skin you can see and the nervous system underneath it at the same time. The body and mind settling together, as they were always meant to.

How to grow her.

Here is the thing about lemon balm: she wants to grow. She is generous, forgiving, and extraordinarily easy and one of the first herbs I'd recommend to anyone starting out with growing their own.

Plant her in a pot or a bed with decent drainage and she will fill it happily. She prefers partial shade but tolerates most conditions. Cut her back hard after flowering and she will come back fuller and more fragrant than before. Bring a few leaves inside and dry them...a handful of dried lemon balm in hot water makes the most comforting tea you'll find in your own garden (but fresh is always nicer in my opinion!!).

A word of gentle warning: she spreads. Enthusiastically. If you're planting in a bed, consider containing her roots or she will quietly take over. I speak from experience and zero regret!

Where you'll find her in Bodhi & Fae.

Melissa is in Lip Shield, where she works alongside chamomile and lavender to soothe sensitive, reactive lips and support the skin barrier against environmental stress. She is also in Settle & Soothe, our bath blend for moments when the nervous system needs something gentle and grounding - a bath that works as much on the mind as the body.

And she lives in my kitchen, in a jar of dried leaves, next to the kettle.

Because some remedies are that simple.

If you only ever grew one herb, grow Melissa. Tend her, drink her, breathe her in. Watch what happens when something that gentle is given time to work.

She has been doing this for a very long time. She knows what she's doing. 🌿