What's Growing On?

This plant has the strongest lemon scent on earth.

It is known as lemon verbena (Alyosia triphylla). It is a bushy plant that grows 2-6 feet tall in most of the U.S., reaching 15 feet or more in the tropics, and freezing where temperatures dip below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Crush a leaf to appreciate the potent lemon pungence. You can put the leaves in tea, make lemonade with them, cook and bake with them.
Lemon verbena is indigenous to Chile and Peru. It was brought back to Europe by the Spanish who named it in honor of Maria Louisa (hence Aloysia, Mari-A LOUISA), the Italian wife of a Spanish king.
In Los Angeles, lemon verbena must be protected from hot sun, which means that if you live north of Mulholland Drive give it either full morning sun or partial afternoon sun but definitely not all day sun.