Bee Balm, Monarda or Bergamot. Whatever the name...a must have in the garden...

About The Bee Balm

Bee Balm or Monarda with its mop-like flowers and fragrant leaves blooms for a very long time in the flowerbed garden. The Monarda as it can be referred to grows in my middle flower garden. I discovered this lovely fragrant perennial (from the mint family) years ago as I strolled through a friends perennial flower garden. I rubbed the leaves and low and behold the scent was a perfect cup of Earl Grey Tea!

The image above shows the Bee Balm planted alongside the stunning Scarlett Flower Carpet Rose. The image was taken July 19, 2009.

Another great companion plant would be the Becky Shasta Daisy or the Liatris Blazing Star .

How To Grow Bee Balm

Planted in my middle flower garden, this perennial enjoys full sun and has grown to being at least 2 1/2 feet tall while another planted in semi shade location fairs a bit less. It is also spreading very rapidly. I think that the shade in the afternoon stunts its growth. The image below is of the semi shade Bee Balm.

Deadheading this plant is esstential and will encourage more blooming. It really doesn't take a lot of time for the new blooms to arrive.

Unfortunately if your summer is very wet, the leaves will suffer powdery mildew, but that does not lessen the bloom count. Cut off the affected leaves and when the plant has finished blooming cut down the stems or go to my Gardening Tips Page for a great fungicide recipe.

When planting the Bee Balm, make sure to give them plenty of room for air movement. If snipping of the infected leaves, please remember to disinfect any tools used.

As well, I can attest to this perennial being deer resistant and I can also say that my bunnies are not nibbling on them either!

Check out my Site Index Page for a listing of additional annuals and perennials to plant in your flower garden design.

Features of the Bee Balm

• beautiful pink, red or purple flowers
• deer resistant perennial(maybe rabbits too)
• spreads rapidly once established
• fragrant leaves
• attracts butterflies and hummingbirds
• plant in sun to part shade
• grows well in clay soil (most references say that Bee Balm prefers an alkaline soil)
• I had mold grow on a few leaves in a previous garden. Make sure that the plant doesn't stay wet and it has enough air movement around it
• grows to 36" tall

Petite Wonder

The Petite Wonder offers the gardener a variety of Bee Balm that is less susceptible to leaf mold. The compact mound it forms makes it great as a flowerbed border or edging plant.

My dwarf variety grows in a semi shade location and was slow to get going. I do believe that it would prefer the full sun location so I am considering transplanting the grouping.

As its claim to fame in being less susceptible to leaf mold is true (mine have not had any), I still suggest giving this type of perennial its space.

Features

Related pages:

Go back from Bee Balm Page to Gardening and Landscaping Makeover Home Page

Can't find what you are looking for? Use the Search Box below and thanks for visiting my web site.

Please visit again and why not 'Bookmark' this site as a favorite...makes it easy to find us again.