Planting guide

When to plant lemon balm

Lemon-scented leaves for tea and desserts; easy, and the bees love it. In Melbourne it goes in Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Seedling or Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 9–11 wks
Spacing: 40 cm
Depth: 0.2 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means lemon balm can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Melbourne	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Brisbane	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Perth	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Adelaide	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Gold Coast	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Newcastle	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Sunshine Coast	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Canberra	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Geelong	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Hobart	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bendigo	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Launceston	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Blue Mountains	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Bundaberg	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Mildura	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Port Macquarie	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Wellington	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Christchurch	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Johannesburg	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant lemon balm

Press seed onto moist soil, or plant seedlings.
Water in dry spells; part shade is fine.
Cut back before it self-seeds everywhere.
Pick leaves fresh for tea.

Lemon Balm varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Common Lemon Balm Classicheirloom · mild · 9–11 wksLemony leaves, lovely as a fresh tea
Quedlinburger Classicheavy-cropper · 9–11 wksHeavy-yielding, strongly scented leaves
Variegated Lemon Balm Adventurouscolourful · 9–11 wksGold-splashed leaves; a pretty edging plant

Where to buy seeds

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Lemon Balm by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Basil · Thai Basil · Parsley · Coriander · Dill · Chives

Not sure lemon balm is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now