Add lemony plants to your garden

Citrus is the best-known source of lemon flavouring and fragrance, but there are many other lemony plants to consider growing in your garden.

If space is tight, how about a pot of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis, above). This is a member of the mint family and is evergreen in warm climates but will die down in areas that have cold winters.

The native lemon-scented tea-tree Leptospermum petersonii will grow into a small tree to about 5m but can be clipped to make a tangy-smelling hedge. Lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora) is an upright-growing tree from coastal Queensland that has clusters of small, creamy-white summer blooms. It’s said to be the greatest natural source of citral oil, which is also called lemonal.

If you don’t have enough room for a tree, try the shrubby lemon verbena (Aloysia citriodora, above) with its 2m-tall sprays topped with mauve-white flowers. The blooms are so attractive to pollinators that the plant is sometimes christened ‘beebrush’. It can get untidy and needs to be clipped often which means, fortunately, that you get to enjoy the lovely lemon fragrance at the same time.

As an added bonus, leaves from any of these lemony plants can also be steeped to make a soothing, lemon-flavoured tea.