The Bee Balm plant (Monarda), also known as Wild Bergamot, Horsemint, and Oswego Tea, is an aromatic eastern North American native herb that belongs to the Mint family.
Growing into bushy, vertical stalks, full of minty aromatic foliage, Beebalm produces brightly colored flowers in the spring and summer that are a fan favorite for every bumble bee, honeybee, and native (solitary) bee around! Even butterflies and Hummingbirds will stop by to sip the individual tube-shaped flowers that make up these fancy floral crowns.
Bee Balm plants develop colorful, spider-shaped flower blossoms in the early to late summer months and resemble jester hats or fancy whorls of petals that sprout from the rounded centers. These flowers can be red, pink, or lilac, and mature plants can spout about 20-50 flowers each!
The square, rigid stems are lined with eaves in green to pale green and wonderfully scented. Growing two to three feet tall, depending on the variety. Fine dense hairs cover much of the stem and leaves, giving them a fuzzy appearance and feel.
Generally, Deer and rabbit-resistant, Bee Balm have few insect or disease issues, they only desire good soil and good air circulation.
How To Use Bee Balm In Your Garden
Rely on these as a mainstay in your perennial border, children's and sensory gardens, and Cottage garden. Support your beneficial pollinators, bees, and butterflies! Nectar-rich Monarda is a mainstay in Pollinator Gardens. This is also a great plant to include near your Victory Garden by attracting beneficial insects to your veggie patch or fruiting trees for a larger harvest.
Plant Bee Balm in long, meandering "ribbons", eye-catching groupings, or solitary specimen plantings! Go all out, and create massed plantings. Space them 12 inches apart, measuring from the center of one to the center of the next. Simply add additional rows to cover a wider area, planted in a zigzagging, staggered pattern.
Grow Bee Balm in-ground, or used as dramatic "Fillers" and "Thrillers" in large, seasonal containers and sun-porch planters.
Bee Balm Monarda FAQs
Choosing The Right Bee Balm For You!
Browse only for the Bee Balm for your Planting Zone using our USDA zone filters, choose sun exposure levels, or narrow the options by flower color, size, and more!
Look through our helpful blog on Bee Balm plants, or check out these popular selections:
- Sugar Buzz® Bee Balm - bright colors of Grape, Cherry, Raspberry, and Blue Moon
- Native Bee Balm - lavender aromatic and hardy
- Jacob Cline Bee Balm - bright red blooms hummingbirds love
- Balmy Purple Bee Balm - saturated purple-fuchsia
- Coral Reef Bee Balm - dark coral-red pompoms
Plus, you have other Bee Balms in every shade of purple to violet and lavender under the sun to choose from!
Caring For Bee Balm
Get your new Bee Balm off on the right foot with these simple tips, planting advice in our #ProPlantTips, and with Nature Hills Root Booster!
- Ensure the proper amount of shade/sun
- These perennials do best in well-drained soil.
- Create raised gardens or berms if you have poor drainage.
- Add 3-4 inches of mulch over the shallow, creeping rhizome-like root system
- Check out the Plants Description for pruning and other care requirements
- Water new plants regularly using the Finger Test to help them get established
Bee Balm plants are easily grown in ordinary garden soil as well as in heavy clay soil that doesn't get soggy. It will thrive in any moist soil that is rich in organic matter such as manure, compost, or leaf mold, and it prefers alkaline soil conditions.
These bloomers require a part shade to a sunny place to grow. In the fall, prune your Monarda plants to within an inch of the ground. Like other members of the Mint Family, Bee Balm plants can become invasive, but you can keep the plant contained by dividing it in either spring or fall.
Divide your plants every few years to keep these creeping, politely spreading plants and transplant them elsewhere (or bring some fragrant cheer to a friend or neighbor).
Why Order Bee Balm From NatureHills.com?
Family-owned and operated since 2001, Nature Hills Nursery prides itself on meeting the needs of customers with an ever-growing collection of online plants backed by our product guarantee and protected by Plant Sentry™.
All of our Bee Balm container plants are delivered safely to your home with instructions for planting, care, and storage, so you can order knowing you'll have exactly what you need! Plus plenty more information in our #ProPlantTips Garden Blog for extra support and inspiration!
Call now at (402) 934-8116 and learn more about what Beebalms are available for your landscape!
