Melissa
Melissa oficianalis
The Lemon Balm is just right for picking – before it goes into flower it has the strongest flavour!
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Gathered
Floradora and Constance gathered some stems…
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Dried
and hung them up to dry indoors, away from the light.
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Bunch
The dried leaves are very lemony-scented, and very useful…
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Leaf
…a few leaves can be added to potpourri, or made into sachets.
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Potpourri
It smells so good!
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Tisane
…and it makes a refreshing tisane!
The Scientific name for Lemon Balm is Melissa (which means beloved of bees) officinalis (which means used by medical practicioners).
Now we have collected our supply of leaves, we will leave it to flower so the bees can enjoy the blossoms.
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Quimper Hittys 
It looks so fresh I can smell it from here!
It is such a pleasant scent, we’re very fond of it!
Ahhh, what a lovely reminder. Our lemon balm is about at the same maturity so I should be taking some too for future use. Thanks for bringing it to life and surface.
I will imagine your house with bunches of herbs upside-down drying and thinking of soon to be tisanes and sachets!
It’s always a treat to be able to bring the outdoors inside. Non artificial aromas are my favorite.
Mine too, and lemon balm is such a lovely one – even the name suggests positivity, .
Fresh lemony aromas for the Quimper girls – Wonderful
Very True!
It also makes wonderful laundry water, to spray on things to damp them before you iron them. My mother always made it for the tablecloths and napkins.
Isn’t that a lovely idea – thanks! Jane is running out to gather some more for her cupboard!
Does she have a stock of the necessary vodka to steep the leaves in? What a very well provided Hitty she is…
so beautiful… all details… and shoes fascinated me too. Thank you, Love, nia
Thank you Nia, Floradora is lucky to have those shoes, her feet are comfortable in them, and they are beautiful. They were made in a traditional way from leather and beads, by a First Nations Lady in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.
This is great. Welcome and Thanks again, Love, nia
One of my favorites. Love the photos of the girls gathering stems and processing!