I bought an herb at a community college botanical sale on Earth Day, and it is growing very well. The tag says "Bergamon," but I want to be sure it's the same thing that's also known as bee balm or bergamot before consuming it...
Am I dealing with the same herb here?
Verification of herb
I imagine it was a misprint...(was it hand written?).
I don't know of another plant called that...
What does it look like? Square stems? Red flowers? If so, 'tis bee balm.
It was hand-printed. The leaves are fairly narrow and elongated. And yes, by Jove, it has square stems! It also has a nice aroma. I haven't let it get to the flowering stage yet; it was growing so tall it was encroaching on other plants and my weather station I've placed in the garden.
Here's the weird twist: Looking around the Internet, I actually got hits off "bergamon," usually involving aromatherapy. That's what really started throwing me off, wondering if this stuff was really edible (I'd like to try the famed Oswego tea).
This message was edited Aug 5, 2004 9:51 AM
Sure sounds like bee balm to me.
Here's what's listed in the PDB, with lots of pics, too!
http://plantsdatabase.com/search.php?sourceid=Firefox-search&search_text=bergamot
That's it, Horseshoe! Thanks for the pics, because I couldn't find anything under "bergamon" in the database. Now we know why...some horticulture student at Blue Ridge Community College either couldn't spell or couldn't write quite right!
Hope things are going well down your way (bet it's hot)... it's been raining most of the afternoon up here in Henderson County. Thank goodness my 14-year-old son completed mowing just as it started.
Celtic_cross....I hope to come to Flat Rock one day soon. (I assume East Flat Rock is also the sam4e as Flat Rock?) Another DG member, Shazbot, lives there...do you know her? (Maybe we could have a mini-Roundup?)
Glad you figgered out the bee balm dilemma. Now you can make your tea and relax!
Keep smiling!
EFR is next to Flat Rock but has its own post office. Unlike Flat Rock, it's not incorporated. Flat Rock incorporated a few years ago to stop Hendersonville from growing; the other communities around Hendersonville did the same thing, so now the Hooterville Town Council can't annex anything! I understand we may be counted as part of Flat Rock Village because, according to my wife, Hendersonville can't annex us.
As for shazbot, I responded to a couple of her posts and look forward to meeting her. I'm a 39 M who works at home and keeps house for my RN wife. Professionally, I'm a college baseball scout. Gardening helps me to keep my senses.
Yes, gardening...it helps many of us stay grounded!
Baseball scout, eh? (Celtics...I thought maybe you were basketball.)
When I get to take off from here (stay at home Dad/glorified dirt farmer) I will holler at ya. Hope to head to the western side of the state soon.
The Celtic refers to my Irish blood. I started using that username after I got a Celtic cross tattoo a few years back when I was doing a newspaper article on the popularity of tattooing.
Oh cool. Scots-Irish here (tattoo-less). :>)
Celtic, it could be Wild Bergamont, opposed to Bee Balm? http://davesgarden.com/pdb/go/1097/index.html