Plant recomendation: Jacob's Cline Monarda aka Bee Balm
It is Bee Balm season. This plant does great here in Wisconsin. It spreads well, you can divide easily and it brings in the hummingbirds. I have purple Monarda in front of the house and would not recomend it. It gets powdery mildew and does not have the appeal to the hummingbirds. Jacob's Cline red Bee Balm is the best choice by far. I bought two plants originally 3 years ago and now have 6 big patches(4 divided last year and now huge) and 2 small(just divided this year) The only drawback is a relatively short bloom time and it does spread a bit more than you may like.
posted by Lisa at 4:32 PM
5 Comments:
Does it just spread and become a bigger clump, or does it self-sow all over the place? I can control clump, but when they self-sow, you have to spend a lot of time weeding.
It is not that bad. It spreads in clumps. A 1-2 foot patch may grow to be 5-6 feet, but it is easily pulled up if you don't want it that big. It doesn't spread everywhere like Lemon Balm and mint do.
Thanks for the recommendation! I planted this monarda last year and then transplanted it to my new butterfly & hummingbird garden. I've got buds finally! Glad to hear that it spreads. I would love to have some big clumps of it around the yard.
Your bee balm is gorgeous! I recently planted some "Red Shades" monarda I ordered from Graceful Gardens; unfortunately, the earwigs have completely skeletonized the leaves!
Did you buy your plants well-established or as smaller starts?
I love love love that red bee balm. I had some years ago and lost it at some point. I guess I need to get some more going. Thanks for reminding me how beautiful it is.
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