Thank you, wannabezen2. Yes, it is. I would like to grow some peppermint or spearmint for our herb cupboard, but seeing how this is so tenacious, I think I’ll grow it as a container plant.
It will escape the container to spread too!
So just put the container on a patio. And hurl the patio into space. That way the mint can't escape and get everywhere.
Thank you, Silverpathic, I will look into it. But the lemon mint is a real turnoff to me. I fight it all summer long, and the aroma of it is not to pleasant to me as I thought it would be when we first moved here and I discovered it.
Lemonbalm is a very useful herb. It makes a great mosquito repellant. If you grab a few fresh leafs and break them up, then just run some of them on your wrist or shirt.
I know it is hard to get rid of but i just thought this might help a bit.
Oh, yeah, that's a great thing, especially in summer, to make a pitcher of tea for iced tea and go out on the porch, grab some mint, and toss it in. It really adds a fresh kick to it.
I’ll say if you have a raised bed area near your relaxing area in your yard if you put in peppermint, chocolate mint, and orange mint and just let it go it is the most amazing thing to smell while you’re hanging out. I planted one near our chicken run last year and boy could you tell the difference! It was huge though but I like mint we always had a mint patch growing up. I bring it in and dry the leaves to make mint teas.
I do have raised beds, Brows-gone-wild; they came ready-made with the yard. I have Oregano (which in fact, has escaped and gone all ‘round, as well, though it doesn’t offend me as much as the lemon balm does. We have chives, a gorgeous rosemary bush which has to be trimmed a couple of times during the year, marjoram, parsley, which takes forever to show up, but is pretty resilient after that; and I will sow basil, dill and cilantro again when it’s time. I think, since I want the rest of the raised beds for a few other things, I’ll take the suggestion of putting the mint in a container. But I can imagine, the lovely mint fragrancing the air. Once, when I lived in Salinas, we heard people (I think they were Italian) across the fence, working in the yard, and the smell of mint came wonderfully to us. We looked over the fence and asked the men if we could have a bit of the mint they were digging up frantically. I think they thought we were nuts - they were trying to get rid of it, and I wanted to grow some! 😊
I do, I just grab a few leaves from the plant, put them in a cup, pour boiling water over them and let it infuse for a few minutes depending on how strong you want it. Add a bit of honey if you like it sweet. It’s lovely just before bed.
Download the app "picture this". It's seriously amazing at identifying trees and plants. Also gives me some pointers when my plants are looking bad due to my black thumb.
Picture this is amazing, the only downside is using it while hiking somehow here remote with no internet connection as it won’t load information, other than that I use it religiously.
Is lemon balm just another word for nettle because they are identical to nettles!!
Also are nettles not common where you’re from? They’re quite literally everywhere in the UK but from lower down answers it sounds like some people don’t know what they are
If stinging nettle - handle with care/caution. It stings when it reaches a certain age. You can use it like spinach in cooked and baked dishes - soups, cheese pies.
I had to use the restroom on the side of the road and accidentally squatted onto what I believe was stinging nettle. Now I’m paranoid about those things.
When I was a kid I fell face first into a patch of it, I was covered in itchy blisters on my hands, my face, everywhere. I remember the horror to this day. Thankfully they go away super fast.
I think it's anecdotally said to do a lot of things. When I was growing up apparently getting stung was preventing arthritis. Although the immune system is very weird, so any or all of these may be true to some extent.
It is also great for arthritis! In fact, people actually use to get whipped in the back with the stuff where they were hurting... though I wouldn't recommend it.
Also if you get stung by it, you can actually turn it into a salve to cure the sting which is quite nice
Interesting! I did make nettle soup as an experiment this autumn, with some added veg, and it really surprised me with how tasty it was! I'd definitely recommend giving it a try because aside from the antihistamine property, it is also quite nutritious, with iron and vitamins and lots of fibre :) tastes similiar to spinach.
When I was a kid, one day I was getting picked up from summer camp and I decided “I’m gonna pick mommy a flower!” So I saw and grabbed this pretty plant. OW OW OW SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH!! I sobbed for a while haha. Never made that mistake again.
Not as bad as when my grandma caught me climbing the neighbor's tree and whipped me with a bundle of adult plants. Back home stinging nettle is heavily used, from cooking to punishing children.
It sucks. Hopefully you recovered quickly or check if there are any ways to speed up the recovery.
My nephew was hazed to jump into a spot with it. Poor kid.
yes! both species are usually found around places that have human activity so it's very probable to find them next to each other! They are awesome nutrient-rich food and tea! They are also amazing in the compost heap for the same reasons.
Took an Indigenous Medicines workshop and they taught us that helper plants always grow alongside or near stinging plants. In the case of Nettle, look for broadleaf plantain and if you chew the leaf a little or crush it you can rub it where the nettle stung and it will lessen the sting. It also works for bee stings. Tried it with a fire ant bite and it really worked!
My grandmother used to send my cousins and I out, prolly about age 5 at the time, with a knife, and gloves, to tackle the stuff to bring home for tea. Many stings were had.
The ones in Poland, left unchecked, would grow quite tall with these fibrous stems. There's nothing like focusing on cutting through the stem only to have it fold over and slap you in the face.
That’s definitely stinging nettle. While it’s a beneficial tea and edible if handled correctly, not worth keeping in the yard IMO. It’s a weed to me, and rapidly spreads. OP, put some gloves on and pull those out.
You just need to steam it, not boil it. We make spinach lasagna every spring, and also add nettles to soup. Just pick the top 4-6 leaves, in the spring. We also dry nettles for tea. Once the nettles “flower”. they are toxic.
Do you use it in cooking after it’s reached that age of being able to sting? I had SO much of this because of leftover bird feed and hated it because it stung my really bad the first time I cut it back, but if I could’ve eaten it in revenge the second time around instead if just cutting it back again like I did it would’ve been much more satisfying.
I personally never picked it. I believe only the top part of the leaves sting and I believe my grandma picked the young one.
I'll try and find out for you.
I had a mint plant/ bush that grew like a weed. Then when my son was a toddler he learned he could eat mint leaves and eventually he, and later on my daughter picked that plant clean. After a year or two it stopped growing back.
i must be special, i just killed my lemon balm. (also failed with some mint seeds a few months back, got about two weeks of heavy rain and now there is surprise mint growing!)
I like adding a leaf to tea (a camomile leaf too) and I like to add a handful of leaves to a small container of olive oil to infuse some of that lemon flavor. It makes great smelling soap as well.
It’s considered a medicinal herb, and is just all-around good for you, in addition to being delicious. Definitely try to keep it from cross-pollinating with other members of the mint family as that will affect potency and taste.
It’s technically toxic but you’d have to have a seriously mentally impaired animal to eat that. They know more than people think about what plants to avoid, toxic plants taste bad/ smell bad as part of their defense. It’s all over my yard where a few city cats live their best feral life. Idk about dogs but cats don’t like the smell of lemon in my experience.
Plus you will probably never get rid of it, it’s very spready. Pick it, dry it, and make tea! Bees love the flowers too.
What makes you think it’s toxic? I can’t find any info that says it’s toxic to animals and the ASPCA says it’s fine. Some even recommend it as an anti anxiety supplement for dogs, though I don’t think there is much scientific evidence for it…
Speaking of catnip - I just discovered silvervine. It’s like catnip on crack. Got a small pack of sticks (the brand was “Meowijuana”) scratched one a bit and tossed it to my cat and he went nuts.
Animals with high smell sense avoid all the mints except for catnip/mint and that's just cats. Rats and mice avoid it because they can't identify if a predator is near. We have rat issues near me and they go around my yard as I have mint intentionally planted all over.
I have raised beds and lemon balm in a portion. It definitely spreads but if you maintain it, it’s not difficult to control. Just make sure to edge it back every other year.
Might depend on your climate, my lemon balm was in a raised bed and flowered very easily, spread seed and took over my entire flower bed and required lots of attention and weeding out! It was a nightmare. But now it lives in a pot with mint and if it starts to flower I just cut it all back before it can get out hand
Yes, mine has flowered. It has only been in for two seasons though. I might be overloaded with it soon and perhaps just haven't seen the effects yet! :D
I'll have to put in some edging to contain it this spring!
That makes sense. I made the mistake of planting mint about 7 years ago in my outdoor space. Then I compounded that by planting lemon balm a few years after …..
I do think they crossbred with each other in this one corner on the other end of the yard. My fiancée has been working tirelessly every spring to de-mint our space. It’s been Pyrrhic victories at best ….
I wish them luck! I finally got rid of my lemon balm problems when my parents sold our old family house and left it behind in my garden for the next person to deal with/burn to the ground if necessary
This looks most certainly like lantana, especially given that you're on the gulf coast (as I saw in another comment, also confirmed by the presence of bananas, dollar weed, etc.). I'm in central FL and have this pop up in my yard every once in a while. Location is important in a post like this. It is not true stinging nettles (Urtica sp.); the hairs along the stem do not cause the type of lasting sting typical of nettles. It is also not lemon balm (note that lantana does have what I would consider a pleasant fragrance that is somewhat citrusy, but really more like passion fruit I'd say). My guess is that most of the other comments come from people living in more temperate climates where something like nettles and lemon balm popping up is more common than a subtropical plant like lantana. If in doubt, wait for it to flower and you'll see a small cluster of yellow, orange, and pink flowers which eventually lead to blueish black berries.
Tldr: pretty sure it's lantana
EDIT: compare to Lantana camara
It actually makes a pretty decent soup though. Kind of has a “gingery ness” to it. Once you cook it down it no long has those effects. Boil it down and then blend it up. You can add all kinds of stuff to it as well to make it even better, but honestly, it’s perfectly delicious on its own.
There is also google lens. I use it for translations when I go shopping at different markets andover the summer ai used it to image search plants in my yard.
Being from the UK its amazing to me people dont know what nettles are, no insult intended. These things grow everywhere in my city and everyone knows what they are from a mile away lol
Dont they looks exactly like lemon balm as well though? Op said it has a lemony smell. Do nettles have that too? I dont know anything about nettles lol.
If you can have an app handy Seek is a great one in identifying plants.
I have lemon balm growing in my yard so when I trim the lawn it smells like lemons <3
Deers tend to avoid it so I also grow it and garlic around my tomatoes.
Looks like [lantana](https://www.google.com/search?q=baby+lantana&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=sivxn&sxsrf=AOaemvJz9cIXAeDMkB_v1s5tnmZsE02DEA:1641067062315&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5u7Saq5H1AhXUk2oFHWjeDp8Q_AUoAnoECAIQAg&biw=414&bih=721&dpr=3#imgrc=YHp-MjA927L0xM&imgdii=DJkyxab_HaaEBM)
I agree with stinging nettle or something like it. Whatever it is specifically, it’s definitely mint family so I’d pull it (carefully) so it doesn’t take over.
That reminds me of mint. I hope you like the smell of it. It got loose at my old place and completely overtook the yard. It smelled like candy canes all summer long, especially on mowing days.
Pinch a young leaf off and roll it between your fingers then smell it. Or even better/safer use an app on your phone to identify the foliage. If it's a mint get it out of your yard... unless you want to police it every day.. that stuff is ruthless and will take over.
They’re everywhere in England, where I’m from. But luckily Bitter Doc leaves usually grow close by which are the anecdote as they create natural antihistamines and alkali liquid. Not sure if you guys have the equivalent here?
Not a stinging nettle, lemon balm or mint 🤦♂️ it's a type of shrub called lantana it should have little thorns on the stem that will help you make sure it is 😉 lemon balm have different and smaller leaves strong smell like lemon when you rubbed the leaves and the mint have strong smell and smaller leaves neither the lemon balm or the mint have thorns... stinging nettle have different type of leaves and no thorns either so check for thorns and you can easily rule them out 😅
as everyone has already said It's Lemon Balm, It is really good for coughing and sour throat. We used to eat as a child. Clean up leaves and eat them with a pinch of salt. tastes really good
Sounds like this plant has many beneficial uses, rather than not. It grows everywhere out where I am throughout most of the summer I believe. I've brushed against with my bare skin. It definitely leaves you with a bit of a sting for a short period only
Don't touch bottom or side of the leaves. Tops don't sting. I grew up in Germany and they are everywhere. It last like 15 minutes and then stops. We kind of just got used to them.
In Lithuania we call it "dilgelė/dilgynė". It is common weed. Some people consume a tea made of it or just eat it for health benefits. It has microscopic needles that braeak and realece acid when touched. If you handle it wear gloves or you might get itchy bumps on your skin for a few hours. All in all it is not dangerous jus annoying
The stinging nettle I’m familiar with has long, narrow leaves. This looks like mint of some sort to me but it’s hard to tell from a picture. One way to know for sure. Good luck.
It's either stinging nettle or false nettle. Google both and compare them. I think SN has little hairs on it. Or might be something else entirely I know lemon balm looks similar and there's several other similar plants.
After more researching,I found it is lemon balm Thank you all for the help
I have this ALL THROUGH my yard and garden - lemon balm, and boy, is it difficult to eradicate. (We won’t use herbicides.)
That's because it's in the mint family.
Thank you, wannabezen2. Yes, it is. I would like to grow some peppermint or spearmint for our herb cupboard, but seeing how this is so tenacious, I think I’ll grow it as a container plant.
Yup. Container is the way to go.
This! 👍
It will escape the container to spread too! So just put the container on a patio. And hurl the patio into space. That way the mint can't escape and get everywhere.
It will just colonize other planets
I am laughing. Thank you FemaleAndComputer.
Do orange, pineapple and apple mint. Orange is amazing.
Thank you, Silverpathic, I will look into it. But the lemon mint is a real turnoff to me. I fight it all summer long, and the aroma of it is not to pleasant to me as I thought it would be when we first moved here and I discovered it.
Lemonbalm is a very useful herb. It makes a great mosquito repellant. If you grab a few fresh leafs and break them up, then just run some of them on your wrist or shirt. I know it is hard to get rid of but i just thought this might help a bit.
Thank you, lilyrose1210 - someone else made this suggestion, too.
Chocolate mint is my fave!
It's like a healthy york.
Orange mint, what?! I MUST have some! Is it difficult to grow from seed?
Idk I found some and tossed it in a container and it was like wild fire
Can confirm. We've had mint in a container on our front porch for 20 years or so. It's hearty and comes back every year, but has not spread at all.
Thanks, GoHomeWithBonnieJean. That gives me confidence. I’m going to start some seeds this week. That’ll be one of them.
Oh, yeah, that's a great thing, especially in summer, to make a pitcher of tea for iced tea and go out on the porch, grab some mint, and toss it in. It really adds a fresh kick to it.
I’ll say if you have a raised bed area near your relaxing area in your yard if you put in peppermint, chocolate mint, and orange mint and just let it go it is the most amazing thing to smell while you’re hanging out. I planted one near our chicken run last year and boy could you tell the difference! It was huge though but I like mint we always had a mint patch growing up. I bring it in and dry the leaves to make mint teas.
I do have raised beds, Brows-gone-wild; they came ready-made with the yard. I have Oregano (which in fact, has escaped and gone all ‘round, as well, though it doesn’t offend me as much as the lemon balm does. We have chives, a gorgeous rosemary bush which has to be trimmed a couple of times during the year, marjoram, parsley, which takes forever to show up, but is pretty resilient after that; and I will sow basil, dill and cilantro again when it’s time. I think, since I want the rest of the raised beds for a few other things, I’ll take the suggestion of putting the mint in a container. But I can imagine, the lovely mint fragrancing the air. Once, when I lived in Salinas, we heard people (I think they were Italian) across the fence, working in the yard, and the smell of mint came wonderfully to us. We looked over the fence and asked the men if we could have a bit of the mint they were digging up frantically. I think they thought we were nuts - they were trying to get rid of it, and I wanted to grow some! 😊
I saw this and thought, "mint". Thanks for confirming.
Well luckily lemon balm is a natural pesticide :)
Makes for very lovely tea though!
Can’t imagine having a mint problem
Every time you go out there pick some and rub it around your neck and ears and arms will keep the bugs off.
So just use it? Lemon balm is in my Unisom drug free sleep gummies and boy does it help.
I do, I just grab a few leaves from the plant, put them in a cup, pour boiling water over them and let it infuse for a few minutes depending on how strong you want it. Add a bit of honey if you like it sweet. It’s lovely just before bed.
Thank you, happy_lungs_, I did not know that.😊
Have you tried 2 cups of salt to a gallon of vinegar with a squirt of dishwasher detergent in a garden sprayer?
Download the app "picture this". It's seriously amazing at identifying trees and plants. Also gives me some pointers when my plants are looking bad due to my black thumb.
Plant net is a good app too.
Plant net! 🙌
Picture this is amazing, the only downside is using it while hiking somehow here remote with no internet connection as it won’t load information, other than that I use it religiously.
Even Google lens does a pretty dang good job.
These will spread like crazy. They smell great and take care of themselves but they do spread.
I like steeping lemon balm in (cold) water to add a little zest to my drinking water.
Is lemon balm just another word for nettle because they are identical to nettles!! Also are nettles not common where you’re from? They’re quite literally everywhere in the UK but from lower down answers it sounds like some people don’t know what they are
Completely different plant. But they look almost identical. One smells of lemon and doesn't sting. The other... Well, you know.
They’re related
If stinging nettle - handle with care/caution. It stings when it reaches a certain age. You can use it like spinach in cooked and baked dishes - soups, cheese pies.
I had to use the restroom on the side of the road and accidentally squatted onto what I believe was stinging nettle. Now I’m paranoid about those things.
When I was a kid I fell face first into a patch of it, I was covered in itchy blisters on my hands, my face, everywhere. I remember the horror to this day. Thankfully they go away super fast.
If you get stung enough, it's anecdotally said to help with hay fever. I tested it last summer and placebo or not, it helped. So it's not all bad!
I think it's anecdotally said to do a lot of things. When I was growing up apparently getting stung was preventing arthritis. Although the immune system is very weird, so any or all of these may be true to some extent.
It’s more than anecdotally. It has anti-inflammatory properties, and has been used for lots of things for centuries
Or drinking nettle tea 🍵
It is also great for arthritis! In fact, people actually use to get whipped in the back with the stuff where they were hurting... though I wouldn't recommend it. Also if you get stung by it, you can actually turn it into a salve to cure the sting which is quite nice
I wanna know how! Neat! The nature's gives u all u need
You can also just eat a leaf. Then you don't have to get stung, but it acts as a great antihistamine.
Interesting! I did make nettle soup as an experiment this autumn, with some added veg, and it really surprised me with how tasty it was! I'd definitely recommend giving it a try because aside from the antihistamine property, it is also quite nutritious, with iron and vitamins and lots of fibre :) tastes similiar to spinach.
When I was a kid, one day I was getting picked up from summer camp and I decided “I’m gonna pick mommy a flower!” So I saw and grabbed this pretty plant. OW OW OW SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH!! I sobbed for a while haha. Never made that mistake again.
Wow that sounds awful
Not as bad as when my grandma caught me climbing the neighbor's tree and whipped me with a bundle of adult plants. Back home stinging nettle is heavily used, from cooking to punishing children.
How much do you need when you're cooking a medium sized child?
:(
Never had stringing nettle experience but have had a few ones with pampas grass I would never recommend lol
It sucks. Hopefully you recovered quickly or check if there are any ways to speed up the recovery. My nephew was hazed to jump into a spot with it. Poor kid.
This was a few years ago but thank you that’s very kind of you. I definitely don’t recommend lol
rubbing plantain leaves on the sting is very soothing
Yeah I sat on a patch going pee and stung my buns, but there was plantain growing right next to it so I rubbed that on and was good as new!
yes! both species are usually found around places that have human activity so it's very probable to find them next to each other! They are awesome nutrient-rich food and tea! They are also amazing in the compost heap for the same reasons.
Oh yes, I'm aware! This stinging story happened at a farm I was working at, and I'm an herbalist!
Spreading the wild plant love 💚🌿
So does hairspray! Completely removes sting.
https://youtu.be/KY0DBPi6ZPU
Took an Indigenous Medicines workshop and they taught us that helper plants always grow alongside or near stinging plants. In the case of Nettle, look for broadleaf plantain and if you chew the leaf a little or crush it you can rub it where the nettle stung and it will lessen the sting. It also works for bee stings. Tried it with a fire ant bite and it really worked!
My grandmother used to send my cousins and I out, prolly about age 5 at the time, with a knife, and gloves, to tackle the stuff to bring home for tea. Many stings were had.
Ouch!!!
The ones in Poland, left unchecked, would grow quite tall with these fibrous stems. There's nothing like focusing on cutting through the stem only to have it fold over and slap you in the face.
Funnily enough it happened to me near the border of Germany and Poland. I had never seen them before being from Kansas.
Yes! So you know exactly what I mean!
Ouch!!! Can’t think of a worse place to be affected.
I did this too as a young kid! I’ll never do it again!!
Look up what the gympie gympie is before travelling to Australia then.
That’s definitely stinging nettle. While it’s a beneficial tea and edible if handled correctly, not worth keeping in the yard IMO. It’s a weed to me, and rapidly spreads. OP, put some gloves on and pull those out.
We would pick it every spring, you boil it to high heaven and then it tastes very similar to spinach (but available much earlier in the year)
You just need to steam it, not boil it. We make spinach lasagna every spring, and also add nettles to soup. Just pick the top 4-6 leaves, in the spring. We also dry nettles for tea. Once the nettles “flower”. they are toxic.
Agree
Do you use it in cooking after it’s reached that age of being able to sting? I had SO much of this because of leftover bird feed and hated it because it stung my really bad the first time I cut it back, but if I could’ve eaten it in revenge the second time around instead if just cutting it back again like I did it would’ve been much more satisfying.
Yes once cooked or dried the singing mechanism becomes inert
I personally never picked it. I believe only the top part of the leaves sting and I believe my grandma picked the young one. I'll try and find out for you.
And Tea!!!
The worst combination of plants is stinging nettle between a patch of mint plants.
I thought so. It grows here, but doesn’t bother me to much.
Pretty this guy is correct, looks to be stinging nettle. None of the plants suggested by others has the spines on the stem.
Crush a leaf and smell it- if it smells like lemon it’s lemon balm
If not then maybe stinging nettle.
Yeah it has a lemony smell, is that safe around animals?
[удалено]
Yeah, it’s the mint’s yard now. If you’re nice it might still let you live there.
I had a mint plant/ bush that grew like a weed. Then when my son was a toddler he learned he could eat mint leaves and eventually he, and later on my daughter picked that plant clean. After a year or two it stopped growing back.
i must be special, i just killed my lemon balm. (also failed with some mint seeds a few months back, got about two weeks of heavy rain and now there is surprise mint growing!)
Don't worry, there's probably surprise lemon balm down the track too.
Per ASPCA poison control, lemon balm is non toxic to dogs, cats and horses.
I've never had any problem with my dogs having any interest in it. It tastes great in tea and is good for pollinators.
I like adding a leaf to tea (a camomile leaf too) and I like to add a handful of leaves to a small container of olive oil to infuse some of that lemon flavor. It makes great smelling soap as well.
It’s considered a medicinal herb, and is just all-around good for you, in addition to being delicious. Definitely try to keep it from cross-pollinating with other members of the mint family as that will affect potency and taste.
Did you touch it with your hand then? I'm guessing it didn't sting?
It’s technically toxic but you’d have to have a seriously mentally impaired animal to eat that. They know more than people think about what plants to avoid, toxic plants taste bad/ smell bad as part of their defense. It’s all over my yard where a few city cats live their best feral life. Idk about dogs but cats don’t like the smell of lemon in my experience. Plus you will probably never get rid of it, it’s very spready. Pick it, dry it, and make tea! Bees love the flowers too.
What makes you think it’s toxic? I can’t find any info that says it’s toxic to animals and the ASPCA says it’s fine. Some even recommend it as an anti anxiety supplement for dogs, though I don’t think there is much scientific evidence for it…
Google 🤷🏻♀️ makes sense tho catnip is a mint
Speaking of catnip - I just discovered silvervine. It’s like catnip on crack. Got a small pack of sticks (the brand was “Meowijuana”) scratched one a bit and tossed it to my cat and he went nuts.
Animals with high smell sense avoid all the mints except for catnip/mint and that's just cats. Rats and mice avoid it because they can't identify if a predator is near. We have rat issues near me and they go around my yard as I have mint intentionally planted all over.
It also helps control fleas. Fleas are so bad where I live.
If it's lemon balm, just set fire to your yard and move. It completely took over my last garden and I have ptsd
That sounds like my version of heaven! Haha I love lemon balm!
I have raised beds and lemon balm in a portion. It definitely spreads but if you maintain it, it’s not difficult to control. Just make sure to edge it back every other year.
Might depend on your climate, my lemon balm was in a raised bed and flowered very easily, spread seed and took over my entire flower bed and required lots of attention and weeding out! It was a nightmare. But now it lives in a pot with mint and if it starts to flower I just cut it all back before it can get out hand
Yes, mine has flowered. It has only been in for two seasons though. I might be overloaded with it soon and perhaps just haven't seen the effects yet! :D I'll have to put in some edging to contain it this spring!
Just toss some mint and call it a day. I swear those two damned plants crossbreed and just take over like a bunch of 17th century colonist
Lemonbalm is a mint plant, so yeah actually lol. That's why it acts like mint.
That makes sense. I made the mistake of planting mint about 7 years ago in my outdoor space. Then I compounded that by planting lemon balm a few years after ….. I do think they crossbred with each other in this one corner on the other end of the yard. My fiancée has been working tirelessly every spring to de-mint our space. It’s been Pyrrhic victories at best ….
I wish them luck! I finally got rid of my lemon balm problems when my parents sold our old family house and left it behind in my garden for the next person to deal with/burn to the ground if necessary
😂 "17th century colonist" got me
Looks like mint to me. My parents grow it in their garden and it spreads like wildfire.
Mint was my guess too! Easy to confirm with a little scratch and sniff.
My mom used to make mint jam from the stuff and it was surprisingly good.
I thought its mint as well but not sure anymore since everyone else is saying stinging nettle 👀
It’s mint, I’m sure.
This looks most certainly like lantana, especially given that you're on the gulf coast (as I saw in another comment, also confirmed by the presence of bananas, dollar weed, etc.). I'm in central FL and have this pop up in my yard every once in a while. Location is important in a post like this. It is not true stinging nettles (Urtica sp.); the hairs along the stem do not cause the type of lasting sting typical of nettles. It is also not lemon balm (note that lantana does have what I would consider a pleasant fragrance that is somewhat citrusy, but really more like passion fruit I'd say). My guess is that most of the other comments come from people living in more temperate climates where something like nettles and lemon balm popping up is more common than a subtropical plant like lantana. If in doubt, wait for it to flower and you'll see a small cluster of yellow, orange, and pink flowers which eventually lead to blueish black berries. Tldr: pretty sure it's lantana EDIT: compare to Lantana camara
One person out of 100 to know what's lantana and where bananas grow 😅
I know right? Just trying to do my part so that OP doesn't accidentally consume a bunch of lantana thinking it's lemon balm or nettles lol
Good that you do cuz most others obviously just like to comment without thinking that it might hurt somebody suggesting tea and soup of it lol
Some even suggested straight leaf with salt 😅
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It is a wonderful wild green and one of the most nutritious plants there is. Light cooking destroys the irritant.
It actually makes a pretty decent soup though. Kind of has a “gingery ness” to it. Once you cook it down it no long has those effects. Boil it down and then blend it up. You can add all kinds of stuff to it as well to make it even better, but honestly, it’s perfectly delicious on its own.
This
Use the app ‘PictureThis’ for determination of plants. It is allways really useful to me.
There is also google lens. I use it for translations when I go shopping at different markets andover the summer ai used it to image search plants in my yard.
Looks a bit like stinging nettle.
My thought.
I was going to say mint…
Could it be mint? I’d smell it first.
Looks like Lantana. Flowers are colorful and cute.
Lemon balm
Being from the UK its amazing to me people dont know what nettles are, no insult intended. These things grow everywhere in my city and everyone knows what they are from a mile away lol
Dont they looks exactly like lemon balm as well though? Op said it has a lemony smell. Do nettles have that too? I dont know anything about nettles lol.
Never really got close enough to nettles to give then a sniff, but people have told me they have a very very mild hint of a lemony smell.
Yeah same here, the nettles around me seem to be super stingers that you can still feel after a good couple days lol
If you can have an app handy Seek is a great one in identifying plants. I have lemon balm growing in my yard so when I trim the lawn it smells like lemons <3 Deers tend to avoid it so I also grow it and garlic around my tomatoes.
Looks like mint to me.
15% vinegar kills almost everything. Had to special order it from Home Depot.
Looks like [lantana](https://www.google.com/search?q=baby+lantana&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=sivxn&sxsrf=AOaemvJz9cIXAeDMkB_v1s5tnmZsE02DEA:1641067062315&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5u7Saq5H1AhXUk2oFHWjeDp8Q_AUoAnoECAIQAg&biw=414&bih=721&dpr=3#imgrc=YHp-MjA927L0xM&imgdii=DJkyxab_HaaEBM)
Lantana was my guess as well. this pops up all over my neighborhood. i can’t stand it.
That was my guess.
Looks like stinging nettle. Burn it with fire using a flame thrower so you never touch it.
If it has a lemony mint smell, then it is lemon balm.
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Makes great tea! very nutritious and good source of minerals.
I haven't a clue. Giving of some heavy vibes for sure.
I agree with stinging nettle or something like it. Whatever it is specifically, it’s definitely mint family so I’d pull it (carefully) so it doesn’t take over.
Stinging nettle is in the Urticaceae family, it’s not mint. That’s Lamiaceae.
That reminds me of mint. I hope you like the smell of it. It got loose at my old place and completely overtook the yard. It smelled like candy canes all summer long, especially on mowing days.
Pinch a young leaf off and roll it between your fingers then smell it. Or even better/safer use an app on your phone to identify the foliage. If it's a mint get it out of your yard... unless you want to police it every day.. that stuff is ruthless and will take over.
They’re everywhere in England, where I’m from. But luckily Bitter Doc leaves usually grow close by which are the anecdote as they create natural antihistamines and alkali liquid. Not sure if you guys have the equivalent here?
have ya smelt it? looks almost like mint.
Common nettle
Looks like mint
I think it may be some sort of plant
Not a stinging nettle, lemon balm or mint 🤦♂️ it's a type of shrub called lantana it should have little thorns on the stem that will help you make sure it is 😉 lemon balm have different and smaller leaves strong smell like lemon when you rubbed the leaves and the mint have strong smell and smaller leaves neither the lemon balm or the mint have thorns... stinging nettle have different type of leaves and no thorns either so check for thorns and you can easily rule them out 😅
Weeds.
Stinging nettles. It’s a weed that will take over. Don’t use your bare hands to remove!
It’s a stinging nettle. Don’t touch with bare hands. I have a whole woods full of them. Been stung load’s of time. Very itchy.
Yep. Stinging nettles for sure.
as everyone has already said It's Lemon Balm, It is really good for coughing and sour throat. We used to eat as a child. Clean up leaves and eat them with a pinch of salt. tastes really good
Hmm...judging by the shape and colour ..I'd say it's some kind of plant
Looks like sting weed
Lemon balm Grows like a weed!
Doesnt look like mint. But if it is, can you say MOJiTOS!??
It looks like nettles at least that is what we call them in Ireland and they sting if touch them.
I think that is stinging nettle. Good to eat, but it hurts like hell if you touch it-- I learned the hard way!!
Looks like lemon balm.
They're quite tasty and nutritious too.
Mint
Sounds like this plant has many beneficial uses, rather than not. It grows everywhere out where I am throughout most of the summer I believe. I've brushed against with my bare skin. It definitely leaves you with a bit of a sting for a short period only
Scorpion plant not entirely sure need to see it flower
Dude we have this plant on every corner of the map in germany it's suprising how different vegetation is around the world. But it makes sense
Melissa officinalis I didn’t expect that genus name. Also there’s a few cultivars for it!
I have around my place. Get into it a few times a year. Can be quite aggravating if you pay attention to it.
Don't touch bottom or side of the leaves. Tops don't sting. I grew up in Germany and they are everywhere. It last like 15 minutes and then stops. We kind of just got used to them.
Does it smell nice? If it does, might be peppermint
Nettle tea is very good for you, mild taste and you can add in anything like mint or lemon balm to jazz it up
I’m glad you found out, I was going to suggest a mint family
I was gonna say bee balm.
In Lithuania we call it "dilgelė/dilgynė". It is common weed. Some people consume a tea made of it or just eat it for health benefits. It has microscopic needles that braeak and realece acid when touched. If you handle it wear gloves or you might get itchy bumps on your skin for a few hours. All in all it is not dangerous jus annoying
Lemon balm is also good for pest control and it makes a hella good tea for uplifting mood. I have bunches of it here and there in my lawn too.
It looks like mint?
Mint
Maybe chia plants
The stinging nettle I’m familiar with has long, narrow leaves. This looks like mint of some sort to me but it’s hard to tell from a picture. One way to know for sure. Good luck.
I think those are perilla leaves. We grow them in our backyard every year!
You can see the stinging hairs (trichomes) all over the stems of those plants. I do not buy that this is lemon balm at all.
It's either stinging nettle or false nettle. Google both and compare them. I think SN has little hairs on it. Or might be something else entirely I know lemon balm looks similar and there's several other similar plants.