Anyone Grow Lemon Verbena?

[ninnymary]

I picked up a 4" pot of lemon verbena at our grocery store. Of course I was to lazy to pull out my reading glasses and didn't realize until I got home that it can grow up to 6'. My gardening book says it can grow up to 10' here in the bay area because of our mild winters.

I don't really have the space for something this tall/large. I'm not even sure if I would even use the leaves for teas, etc. Should I plant it in a pot to see what it would do?

Do any of you grow it? If so, how big does it get for you?

I'm not sure if I even want to keep it. But I just hate to throw away such a beautiful healthy plant.

I guess it was one of those impluse buys! :/

Mary

 

[lesa]

Here in zone 4- I do not have those problems!! I wouldn't worry about it- plant it and keep it cut back, if it really grows that big... If you keep it trimmed, it shouldn't get too woody. The other idea of keeping it in a pot is good, too. This way, you can keep it trimmed and it won't spread. I say, go for it! I always love an experiment!

 

[digitS']

. . . I'm not even sure if I would even use the leaves for teas, etc. Should I plant it in a pot to see what it would do?
. . .

I have my lemon verbena in what might be a 3 gallon pot.

It can't make a tremendous amount of annual growth in my part of the world and has to be cut back and brought indoors during the winter.

Lemon verbena is my favorite stand-alone herbal tea. My favorite way to use it, however, is with anise hyssop, 1 to 1. And Mary, I don't even care much for lemon flavors . . .

Lemon balm grows in my yard and I have no intention of using it. That goes for the lemon grass, too. I don't care about lemon juice in my ice tea, altho' a slice is nice. And, I'll go thru the selection at the store to make sure that I don't end up with a bottled tea with lemon . . .

I think you may really like lemon verbena .

Steve

 

[RustyDHart]

I grow Lemon Verbena....although I have to bring my plants in for the Winter....along with my Pineapple Sage....another one of my favorites.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Hi there fellow East Bay gardener!

Our lemon verbena aloysia triphylla grows in a corner of the property and gets about 4 or 5 feet tall in a season from being cut back down to about 1 foot off the ground at the end of the season.

You can always trim during the season too, it's pretty resilient.

Carlos