{"id":100840,"date":"2026-09-10T12:08:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T11:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/produto\/uncategorized\/lemon-balm-melissa-officinalis-12cm-pot\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T15:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T14:03:09","slug":"lemon-balm-melissa-officinalis-12cm-pot","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/produto\/plants\/herbs-vegetables\/lemon-balm-melissa-officinalis-12cm-pot\/","title":{"rendered":"Lemon Balm – Melissa officinalis (12cm pot)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis<\/em>) is a perennial, aromatic herbaceous plant from the mint family, easily recognized by its green leaves and pleasant lemon scent when touched or crushed.
Widely used as a culinary and aromatic herb, its leaves can be enjoyed fresh or dried, particularly in infusions, salads, desserts, and various culinary preparations. During summer, it produces small, nectar-rich flowers\u2014usually white or creamy-white\u2014that are highly attractive to bees and other pollinators.
With its vigorous growth and easy-to-grow nature, it progressively forms a dense clump. In winter, the above-ground growth may dry out or disappear, especially in colder regions, sprouting again in spring.<\/p>\n

Scientific name<\/strong>: Melissa officinalis<\/em>
Common name<\/strong>: Lemon Balm
Fam\u00edlia<\/strong>: Lamiaceae<\/em>
Origin<\/strong>: Mediterranean region to Central Asia; native species to Portugal
Climate<\/strong>: Temperate to Mediterranean
Category<\/strong>: Outdoor plant
Approximate height<\/strong>: 20cm<\/p>\n

CUIDADOS<\/strong>
Light<\/strong>: Can be grown in full sun or partial shade. In Portugal, especially in regions with hotter summers, it benefits from some protection from intense sun during the peak heat hours. Partial shade is perfectly suited for its cultivation.
Temperature<\/strong>: A very cold-resistant plant, it can remain outdoors throughout winter across most of Portugal. The foliage may die back in the cold but will sprout again in spring, as it is a species highly resistant to low temperatures.
Watering<\/strong>: Regular, especially during hot and dry periods. It prefers some soil moisture but without waterlogging. When grown in a pot, check the substrate moisture more frequently during the summer. In winter, reduce watering according to weather conditions and the plant’s vegetative state.
Soil\/Substrate<\/strong>: Adapts easily to different soil types, provided they offer good drainage. It can thrive in acidic, neutral, or alkaline soils.
Fertilisation<\/strong>: Not very demanding. During spring and summer, when grown in a pot, it can benefit from light fertilization with a product suitable for aromatic plants, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
Pruning\/Maintenance<\/strong>: Can be pruned or harvested regularly to stimulate the production of young, aromatic foliage and maintain a more compact habit. After flowering, a harder prune encourages new leaves and also helps limit spontaneous seed dispersal.
Flowering<\/strong>: Produces small white or creamy-white flowers during summer, much sought after by bees and other pollinating insects.
Life cycle<\/strong>: Perennial. It is a hardy perennial: the above-ground growth may disappear during winter and redevelop from the base in spring.
Pet Friendly<\/strong>: There is no basis to classify the plant as toxic, though the concentrated essential oil may have different properties than the plant itself. Still, as with any aromatic plant, pets should not be encouraged to ingest large quantities.<\/p>\n

Fun Fact<\/strong>: Its small flowers are particularly attractive to bees. The genus name Melissa itself derives from Greek and is related to the word for “bee”, a reference to the relationship between this aromatic plant and these important pollinators.<\/p>\n

WARNING!
– Representative photograph \u2013 the image shown is of an item in stock at the time the product was added to the online catalogue, and is therefore a reference. As this is a natural plant, each specimen is unique and may show slight differences in size, density, and leaf count. The plant provided will be similar to the photograph; however, depending on its vegetative cycle, it may vary in shape, appearance, or size (e.g., with or without flowers).
– The stated height includes the plastic pot shown in the photo and may vary slightly depending on the specimen in stock, as it is a living plant.
– Colors in the photograph may show slight variations depending on the screen settings used for viewing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial, aromatic herbaceous plant from the mint family, easily recognized by its green leaves and pleasant lemon scent when touched or crushed.Widely used as a culinary and aromatic herb, its leaves can be enjoyed fresh or dried, particularly in infusions, salads, desserts, and various culinary preparations. During summer, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":100846,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[1442,1440,1438],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-100840","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-herbs-vegetables","product_cat-outdoor-plants","product_cat-plants","first","instock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/100840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=100840"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=100840"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hortodocampogrande.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=100840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}