Herb · Verbenaceae
Lemon Verbena
Aloysia citriodora
A single brush of the leaves scents a whole room with lemon. Give it full sun and warmth, and this tender herb earns its place at home.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
USDA 8–11
2–6 ft · 0.6–1.8 m
Overview
Set a pot of lemon verbena by a sunny door or on a kitchen sill and the reward is atmosphere, a clean lemon scent that lifts each time someone passes and catches a leaf. Brighter than most true citrus, that fragrance is why the leaves reach the teapot and the cooking table. Grown as a loose, woody shrub from South America, it brings the herb garden indoors as a fragrant fixture of daily life.
It is a frost-tender perennial, at ease outdoors only in the mild zones 8 to 11, which shapes how it fits a home. Where winters turn cold, it lives its life in a handsome pot that summers on the patio and winters by a bright window, or simply plays the season as an annual. Left to its own devices it can reach 6 feet (180 cm) of open, leggy growth, so a roomy corner and an occasional pinch keep its shape in balance.
The plant rewards a settled routine over a busy hand. Move it around or let it chill and it sheds its leaves in protest, then returns to form once it has a steady place. Offer it sun, warmth, and even moisture, and it slips into the rhythm of the home, a fragrant companion to pick from spring through the season.
Care
The short version: give it a full-sun, warm spot, keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy, feed it monthly through the growing season, and bring it under cover before the first frost.
Light
Give lemon verbena the brightest spot you have, full sun of 6 or more hours a day, which keeps its leaves fragrant and its form neat by a window or on a patio. A little afternoon shade does no harm, though a dim corner leaves it thin and floppy with a fainter scent, so lean toward the light.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist but well drained, watering more often for a plant in a container or through a warm stretch. It answers a swing between bone-dry and waterlogged by dropping its leaves, so a steady hand keeps the display intact.
Soil
Pot it into well-drained loam worked with organic matter, the kind of mix that keeps roots content in a container. It sits comfortably across a fairly wide pH from 6.0 to 7.5, so good drainage matters far more than the exact reading.
Temperature
It settles into any room between about 23°F to 86°F (-5°C to 30°C), though it is frost-tender at the low end and will shed leaves in the cold. Below 40°F (4°C) it suffers, so a container plant belongs indoors before the first hard chill.
Humidity
Ordinary household humidity of 40% to 60% suits it well. Through winter the indoor air runs dry and invites spider mites, so a little added moisture and moving air keep the foliage looking its best.
Feeding
Feed it monthly through spring and summer while it is in active growth, using a balanced general-purpose fertilizer. A container plant asks for a lighter hand, since its pot cannot absorb an overdose the way open ground can.
Pruning
Prune in spring to shape the plant and clear dead or weak wood, and pinch the growing tips through the season to keep a full, tidy silhouette and a steady supply of leaves. After it overwinters, cut it back hard once fresh growth appears.
Repotting
Move it into a slightly larger pot every 1 to 2 years in spring. Roots circling the pot, water running straight through, or quick wilting between waterings all signal it is time for fresh soil and more room.
Size & spacing
Expect a loose, woody shrub of 2 to 6 feet (60 to 180 cm) tall spreading 3 to 4 feet (90 to 120 cm) across, so plan its corner accordingly. Give it that room so air moves freely and its open shape has space to settle into the space.
When to plant
Lemon verbena keeps to the calendar of warmth and will not sit through a frost. Move it into its outdoor place only once the cold has lifted and the nights have warmed in late spring, gather the fragrant leaves across the season, and enjoy small white to lilac flowers as summer draws to a close.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: After all danger of frost has passed and soil and nights are warm (late spring)
- Harvest: Tiny white to pale lilac flowers in open clusters in late summer; harvest fragrant leaves throughout the growing season, most aromatic just before flowering
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 8–11
Temperature: down to -12°C
Troubleshooting
Lemon verbena wears its mood plainly, letting leaves fall or fade when its setting is off. Most of its complaints come down to cold, uneven watering, or the dry air of an indoor room. Match what you are seeing below and settle the cause before the plant loses more of its looks.
A collapsing plant over soft, dark roots
A plant that wilts and yellows above soil that stays wet and sour points to root rot, with the roots gone soft and brown below. Ease off the watering, lift the plant from its pot, and pare away the ruined roots before settling it into fresh, fast-draining mix. A container with genuine drainage holes keeps the trouble from returning to the display.
Fix:
- Reduce watering and improve drainage
- Repot into fresh, well-drained mix, trimming away rotted roots
- Use containers with drainage holes
A once-full plant suddenly bare
When a plant that anchored the windowsill goes bare overnight, the culprit is usually transplant shock or a chill below 40°F (4°C) rather than any real decline. Soil that lurches from bone-dry to soggy will unsettle it as well. Let it hold one favored spot, water it on an even rhythm, and the fresh foliage returns once the plant feels at home.
Fix:
- Stabilize the plant's environment and avoid further moves
- Keep soil evenly moist and out of cold drafts
- Be patient; new leaves usually flush once conditions stabilize
Dulled leaves with a faint webbing
A plant that has lost its clean look to pale speckling and a faint webbing beneath the leaves has usually met spider mites, which favor the dry air of a heated room. Whitefly and aphids leave the same faded cast. Rinse the foliage well, work insecticidal soap over the undersides, and give an indoor plant more air and moisture so the setting no longer suits the mites.
Fix:
- Rinse foliage with a strong spray of water
- Treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, covering leaf undersides
- Increase air circulation and humidity for indoor plants
Toxicity
For a home that welcomes pets and children, lemon verbena is an easy choice, safe all around. It is a culinary herb kept for tea and cooking, with nothing in the leaves or stems to harm the household. It can hold any spot you give it with a clear conscience.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
A household cat can share a room with it in comfort, since neither leaves nor stems hold anything toxic. An idle nibble might bring a passing, mild stomach upset, the kind almost any plant can cause.
Dogs None
The plant sits easily in a home with dogs, carrying no toxin that would trouble them. Its keen lemon scent tends to keep a curious dog from chewing much of it.
Horses Safe
Out in a paddock setting, lemon verbena holds nothing that would harm a horse, so a grazing animal has no cause for concern.
Rabbits Safe
For a household rabbit, the plant is safe, and its fragrant leaves make a graceful occasional treat beside the usual greens.
Livestock Safe
On a smallholding, cattle, goats, and sheep can browse the foliage unharmed, as it carries no toxin that affects them.
Birds Safe
Whether it stands in the garden or shares an indoor room, the plant poses no threat to birds that pick at its leaves.
People Safe
In the kitchen the leaves earn their keep, steeped into a bright lemon tea or folded into a dish, and they are entirely safe to eat.
Leaves are edible and aromatic; no special handling precautions are needed beyond normal kitchen use.
Varieties
Lemon verbena comes to the shelf almost always as the plain species, so the choice is refreshingly simple. Here is what that means as you bring one home.
Lemon verbena (species)
It reaches the market almost always as the plain species rather than a named cultivar, and it wears the most intense lemon scent of the everyday kitchen herbs.
How to propagate
The most rewarding way to have more lemon verbena is from cuttings, since its seed rarely obliges. Take a piece of a plant you already love, and the next one carries all the same character.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Late spring through summer using softwood or semi-ripe growth · Roots typically form in about 3-4 weeks, with established plants in 1-2 months
The graceful way to gain more plants is to take cuttings from non-flowering shoot tips in late spring through summer, clear the lower leaves, and set them into a moist, well-drained mix kept warm and humid. Roots appear in about 3 to 4 weeks, and over the following month or two the young cuttings settle into full plants ready for their own spot. Seed is best left aside, since it is rarely sold and seldom comes up.
Myths
Lemon verbena is a hardy herb that survives winter outdoors anywhere.
In practice it is tender to frost and returns dependably only in the mild zones of about 8 to 11. In a colder setting, the plant either moves indoors for the winter or serves as an annual to be replanted each spring.