A few Lemon Verbena cuttings stuck in a drying rack in filtered light through my kitchen window in Texas today.
Although it may be easier to dry the herb while it clings naturally to the stem on which it grew, it's a bit more difficult to strip the dried leaves off the stem than it is to pluck the fresh leaves off the stem before drying them.
Either way, Lemon Verbena dries easily on racks in a warm, dry environment. Take care to avoid drying in direct sunlight. Use of an electric dehydrator is not necessary, but if used, choose a low temperature setting and check frequently because Lemon Verbena may get crusty and taste burned if dehydrated too long.
Here's my friend Dr. Gabriele Stoll gently sweeping dried leaves in her commercial Lemon Verbena business located in Ortenau, Germany.
And here's Gabriele's Teegarten, her "field of friends."
In a 2005 Washington Post article, Lovely Lemon Verbena, food garden columnist Barbara Damrosch describes the taste of Lemon Verbena, "... its clean, grassy taste is springlike -- powerful with no hard edges."
And in a 1997 New York Times article, Lemon Verbena: From Sorbet to Soap, author Suzanne Hamlin writes,"Lemon verbena, which has a distinct lemon lilt, does not taste like any of the other lemon-based plants, like lemon balm, lemon mint, lemon thyme or lemon grass. It has a lighter, less aggressive flavor that can be best described as lemon perfume."
My favorite description is from a 2003 article, The Zesty, Sweet Scent of Lemon Verbena which was complied by the Herb Companion Staff. "The leaves are a cheery shade of light green. But the great joy of lemon verbena is the sweet, lemony scent that leaps from the leaves at the slightest touch."
My absolute favorite photo of Lemon Verbena grown large in a stunning, twisted tree form is available from my friend and well-known herbalist/photographer, Steven Foster.
Lemon Verbena is a most versatile herb plant that grows happily confined in a pot in temperate regions, and unrestrained in the wild or carefully cultivated in the garden where winter is warmer and does not bring killing frosts.
Here's one potted plant just coming back to life in the springtime after over-wintering indoors in a cool (but not freezing) location.
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| Photo courtesy of tiny.tussle on Flicker, modified by MSL.
Visit Gourveine.org (use Google Translate to read in English) to get Dr. Gabrielle Stoll's award-winning brand of Lemon Verbena, your ticket to delightful Lemon Verbena Living.
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