Plants with Lemon Fresh Fragrance and Flavor

You don’t need a lemon tree to add lemon fresh fragrance and flavor to your garden and meals.

A variety of plants contain the same chemicals that give citrus leaves and fruit their lemony smell. The intensity of flavor and fragrance varies with each plant. You may need to brush or crush the leaves to release the fragrance.

The flavor of lemon verbena is less intense when cooked and useful when just a light lemony flavor is desired. Lemon balm on the other hand maintains an intense lemon flavor whether used fresh or dried.

Grow lemon grass for its texture and flavor. It’s a perennial in zones 9 to 11, but can be grown in a pot and overwintered indoors in colder regions.

The lemon scented geranium is grown for its fragrant leaves rather than the flowers. Use the leaves to add a hint of lemon flavor to sugar, baked goods and fragrance to sachets.

A bit more information: You may be surprised at the number of lemon-scented plants. Lemon thyme provides the traditional thyme flavor with just a hint of lemon.  Add lemon basil to the garden for a lemon and anise flavor combination. Lemon catmint has a lemon scent, is hardy in zones 3 to 9 and does not spread as much as other catmints.