Friday 12 February 2016

Lovely Lemon Verbena

Brushing up against the bright green leaves of the Lemon Verbena releases a subtle, lemon scent as I walk by.  Picking a few of those leaves and gently crushing them in my hands releases, much more emphatically, its lemony perfume. 



The lemon scented leaves of the Lemon Verbena.

My Lemon Verbena is a fairly recent addition to our garden. I have planted it in a sunny, well-drained but protected space and it's thriving there. It did get straggly at one stage, after flowering, but a light prune has resulted in a burst of new and thicker growth. More lemony leaves!


These leaves have many uses. You can steep them to make a revitalising herbal tea, like the one resulting from this recipe where its flavour is combined with mint.  You can make a lemon-scented sugar or infuse syrups or vinegar with the lemon of the leaves too. With my abundant supply though, I am most looking forward to making Martha Stewart's Lemon Verbena Lemonade

I can envisage pouring myself a glass of this icy, refreshing lemonade. I imagine that I'll cradle my glass sitting on the deck, gumboots still on, overlooking the garden where my Lemon Verbena grows. I think I'll have to do this at least once before this Summer ends, starting this weekend.

Meg



4 comments:

  1. The vision of you drinking your lemonade made me smile. Enjoy it.

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    1. The thought of it makes me smile too, Kim:) In fact, anytime I think of the garden, I smile. There is so much there that makes me happy! Meg

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  2. Kick off your gumboots and leave them where they land....I dare you!

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    1. Hi, Lucy! My preferred state, when wandering or working in the garden, is to be barefooted but, after standing on a snake down there a little while ago, I have been remembering what were my once neglected gumboots! (The snake was as shocked as I was.. fancy having a big human hoof tromping on you...and thankfully took off for cover). I will save you some lemonade, my friend! Meg:)

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