Bee Balm (Oswego Tea)
Monarda didyma. LAMIACEAE (LABIATAE).
Planting and Growing Bee Balm
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow bee balm in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of bee balm
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for bee balm
- Season of bloom and planting time for bee balm
- When, how deep, and where to plant bee balm
- How to plant bee balm
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of bee balm
- Landscape and container uses of bee balm
- Comments about bee balm and its features
Growing Bee Balm
Several cultivars of upright, bushy or mounding, deciduous perennial herbs, to 4 ft. (1.2 m) tall. Textured, mint green, oval to lance-shaped, toothed, fragrant leaves, 3–6 in. (75–150 mm) long, with downy undersides.
Wild bergamot, Monarda fistulosa, is a closely related species with light pink or lavender flowers and similar care needs.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Showy, pink, red, white, single- or double-whorled, fluffy, tubular, lipped, irregular flowers, to 2 in. (50 mm) long, with papery bracts, on erect, woody stems, in summer.
Best Climates
Hardy. Zones 4–9. Best in cold-winter climates.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained humus. Fertility: Average. 6.5–7.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in partial shade, 2 ft. (60 cm) apart, after soil warms.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist during active growth. Avoid fertilizing. Propagate by division, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for backgrounds, borders, massed plantings in meadow, natural, wildlife, woodland gardens. Attracts bees, birds, butterflies, hummingbirds. Powdery mildew, rust susceptible.: