• Home
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Press Releases
    • Plant Sale
    • Kids in the Garden
    • Twilight Garden Tour >
      • 2020 Virtual Twilight Garden Tour
    • 2021 Handouts
    • 2020 Handouts
    • 2019 Event Handouts
    • 2018 Handouts
    • 2017 Handouts & Slides
    • 2016 Handouts & Slides
  • Teaching Gardens
  • Members
    • Meetings
    • Committees
    • Member Handbook
    • Presentation Resources for Members
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Continuing Education
    • Onboarding
  • About/Contacts
    • Speakers Available
  • Helpful Links
  • Training
  • Blog
    • Videos
  North Country MGV

gARDEN bLOGS

Marvelous Monarda

3/8/2021

0 Comments

 
This article is part of a series for 2021 of award winning plants from a variety of organizations.
​Hands down Monarda is one of my favorite flowers in both my buffer zone and in my perennial flower beds.  What is not to love?  It comes back year after year despite our harsh winters.  The pollinators love Monarda – not just bees and butterflies, I have witnessed hummingbirds fighting over Monarda blossoms.  The blossoms are bright, unique and last a long time!

Picture
This year Monarda is one of the 2021 National Garden Bureau’s featured plants, and a great choice for your garden too!
​
​ A Native Species, Monarda has a long medicinal herbal history that Native tribes taught early settlers to utilize. Bee Balm, Monarda’s common name, I am certain came to be due to its ability soothe bee stings, other medicinal uses included treating chills and fever all information shared with early settlers from Native Americans.  
Monarda Species as described below is from the National Garden Bureau website:  www.ngb.org:
  • Monarda punctacta, aka Horsemint or Dotted Mint, is somewhat of an unruly native prairie plant characterized by tall unbranched stems topped with rounded clusters of pink or lavender tubular flowers.  The stacked combination of speckled flowers and colorful bracts make this distinctive and unusual.
  • Monarda fistulosa, or wild Bergamot, is one of the species commonly used for medicinal purposes.  Being highly aromatic with showy lavender-pink flowers, it is also used as a honey plant.
  • Monarda didyma (Scarlet Bee Balm) has long been cherished for not only use for tea but also its ornamental value.  The bright scarlet/red flowers of M. didyma are still a part of many ongoing breeding programs with Monarda.
It has been a long road from these native species of Monarda to the prized ornamental cultivars available today.  Some of the first hybrids of M. didyma x M. fistulosa produced vibrant flower colors with a more well-behaved plant, but they continued to be plagued by their native attributes of being highly susceptible to mildew, somewhat tall and leggy and had a tendency to spread by rhizomes.

New Varieties include:
  • Marshall’s Delight -  Received Award of Merit from Royal Horticultural Society.
  • Gardenview Scarlet – Selected by the Chicago Botanic Garden as an outstanding perennial for the Midwest.
  • Petite Delight – The first of its kind dwarf introduction of monarda at just 12 – 15 inches tall.
I have found Monarda to be one of the easiest to grow in both my buffer zone and perennial flower bed with minimal care and upkeep.  They prefer full sun and are drought tolerant once established. Deadheading encourages additional flowers and spreads the plant out a bit.  Since they are susceptible to powdery mildew, it is important to remove all diseased foliage in the fall. 

Generally speaking neither the deer nor the rabbits seem to bother with Monarda….but there is always that ONE (Peter Rabbit comes to mind) that will be the exception.

I hope you have a sunny spot to add this beautiful and unique pollinator to your collection.  Happy gardening.
​
Author:  Jill Fries, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.



    Learn more about what's going on by checking out these local blogs and Facebook sites: 

    *No. Country MGV Facebook
    *Spooner Ag Station Facebook 
    ​* The River Flowing Blog
    ​
    *  GardenTrueNorth Blog

    (These blogs are not associated
    ​ with the UW-Extension except for the Spooner Ag Station Facebook page.)


    Coming Events
    Go to our home page
    ​

    Archives

    February 2023
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018

    Categories

    All
    All American Selections
    Annuals
    Bouquet Tips
    Event Announcement
    Fruits
    Growing Tips
    Invasive Plants
    Miscellaneous
    Perennials
    Pollinator Plants
    Projects
    Public Gardens
    Recipe
    Trees And Shrubs
    Vegetables

    RSS Feed

Location

Visit the Teaching & Display Gardens

The Teaching and Display Gardens  are a joint effort between the Spooner Agriculture Research Station, operated by the University of Wisconsin - Madison College of Agriculture and Life Science, the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension and area UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteers.  

Open to the public for self-guided tours during day light hours seven days a week mid-May through mid-September. 

Contact Us

  • Home
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Press Releases
    • Plant Sale
    • Kids in the Garden
    • Twilight Garden Tour >
      • 2020 Virtual Twilight Garden Tour
    • 2021 Handouts
    • 2020 Handouts
    • 2019 Event Handouts
    • 2018 Handouts
    • 2017 Handouts & Slides
    • 2016 Handouts & Slides
  • Teaching Gardens
  • Members
    • Meetings
    • Committees
    • Member Handbook
    • Presentation Resources for Members
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Continuing Education
    • Onboarding
  • About/Contacts
    • Speakers Available
  • Helpful Links
  • Training
  • Blog
    • Videos