Would lemon balm work in place of the lemon verbena? Because I have a bunch of that and a bunch of mint that is just dying to be used!

You know, I saw that mint not too long ago, and although I recognized that it smelled like some type of mint, I had no idea what kind. Thanks for the info!

Verbena is actually something unto its own. "Lemon Verbena" is a convenient name because Americans needed something to pin it to.

When I worked with a Japanese cake maker a few years ago she tasted my verbena ice cream and said it tasted like ginger to her.

I'm glad to hear your plant is doing well. They can be quite fickle and don't always proliferate. Locally I buy my verbena from Knoll Farms. But something to note: if you are taking it home from the store/market and are not going to use it right away it rots quickly.

I lay the stems on a parchment lined cookie sheet as far apart as I can manage, and keep them in a warm dry spot until they all dry out.

Infsuing with dried leaves produces a slightly different flavour, but it remains light and delicious. The dried leaves can also be bought in bulk from Rainbow Grocery in SF or from certain Tea shops.

Very cool. Sounds like another plant to add to the herb garden out back. My mint plants are all growing like weeds, so if this lemon verbena is anywhere near as prolific, I'm good to go :-)

I wonder how it does in the Sunset fog though?

Hi, I noticed in the comments for Lemon Verbena Tea, that someone had wondered if Lemon Scented Verbena had any medicinal properties.
It does actually:
It helps reduce fevers/temperatures
It also can help relieve indigestion, similar to mint
It can also help people with poor digestion, especially, if they have a health problem in that area. Lemon Scented Verbena actually works but soothing the muscles which are spasming during an episode of indigestion or 'trapped' wind (flatulence)
Hope this helps:)