Anyone know anything about "Monarda?"

What a totally cool looking plant! Never heard of it until I was looking through a catalog and saw a picture. Anyone have any experience with it?

Apparently a wildflower, also called "horsemint." This is Monarda punctata, or "Fantasy Monarda." In some of the pictures I've seen it looks great...others it looks kind of weedy. Anyone know anything about it?

Also known as Bee Balm, Hummingbirds and bees love it. There are lots of different cultivars. The older ones can be prone to powdery mildew and can also be pretty thuggish. The newer ones are better behaved and more resistant to powdery mildew. There are some terrific bright red ones as well as pinks and purples. Foliage is kind of fragrant/herby. I've got one of the newer small ones, Petite Delight, I think.

I just saw a page which says the Petite Delight can get up to 15' high and that it is one of the "smaller" monarda. Can they be pruned to keep them smaller? Probably wouldn't work with other plants in a small space, huh?

But now another page says 15". Looks like most are in that height range, maybe a little larger, so I guess the pruning question is moot.

Well, it's a perennial and all the flowers are at the top. They get pruned when they're deadheaded. And, really, 15" is pretty short for a plant-below knee level for me.

Monardas are highly regarded for butterflies and hummers, so they're worth having around.

With your acreage, you actually can do, and will probably discover that you want to do bigger plants that have enough presence to be noticed in your large space-within reason, of course. It's very freeing to have that kind of space.

The large space thing is true, but currentlty am thinking about the potager ~ 9 - 4' x 4' boxes right in front of the house. Three are planned, I still have 6 to fill in my mind. DH is putting the boxes together now, but won't probably actually fill them until late next month or early March. I'd love to attract hummers and b-flies but want to keep the boxes manageable, at least this year. Most of the herbs and veggies planned for the potager are not all that colorful and I would like to have some really bold and "sassy" little flowers to add a little pizazz. Since I'm so new at the whole outdoor gardening thing, I'd like to keep the plants fairly easy to grow as well (I want it all and I want it now...*sigh*).

Ahhh...Do you know the old saying about perennials? Sleep, creep, leap? The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap. It refers to the way perennials tend take a couple of years to get established and grow to their full size.

oh, and I totally relate to "I want it all and I want it now" ;) (isn't that a song lyric, too?...)

I have lots of Monarda and have had problems with the seeds starting and running. Also the parent plant gets quite large and I have to dig the perimeter each year to prevent take over. We of course don't have trouble with pow. mildew because we live where God does and the weather is perfect. LOL I love my Bee balm and have many colors. I use them for an outstanding color grouping to light up their area from July to October. Most of my beds are already pretty covered with established perennials so I eliminate the unwanted ones when I do my walk about in the early summer. Weed pulled and plants recovered each night that some of my friends would like to have. This is a good one to plant to have trade specimens at swap meets. Bees hummers, and butterflies hang out in Monarda due to their continued pollen (nectar) production.

Sofer, do you have any pictures of your beds? I bet they're beautiful.

Yes I do but I am at a wireless location away from DSL and for some reason it won't send pictures tonight. I'll try one more time.

This doesn't show the color due to the shade but it is quite nice with sun blasting on it.

ahhh.....sunshine.....
Beautiful colors. Love that deep red! Is that a hardy geranium next to the Stella d'oro? Did you do all the rock work?

Sue...I never heard of the sleep, creep, leap theory, but that's one of the joys of DG ~ I learn many new things every day! And yes...I want it all by Queen (nice catch).

Sofer ~ beautiful beds, and thanks for the info. Haven't met you yet (newbie, here), so howdy. What's the yellow creeper?

Boy, outta, if your picture and sofer's doesn't convince you to give the monarda a try - you are a hard sale! I think the photo you found is brillant, and sofer's mixed border is gorgeous. One thing to keep in mind is that perennials can always be moved. Try planting it in the parterre - when it gets 'too big' move it into a more open space - you are going to have a lot of it in a few years time. In the interim, there it will be maturing and attracting all the things you want in the garden.

Hi I grow many of the monardas since they do great on little care. Some can get mildew so I would plant them where they can get air flow. A little neglect will keep them in check. Petti delight is great what a hot zippy pink sold it all last year and it is small. 1 or 2 in the border. Monarda fistulosa or fantasy I have grown from seed and bought and a great great detailed flower but it didn't over winter for me. Some are annuals. They were in pots in the nursery so they might be better in the ground with very good drainage. Hummers love them. Heidi and Dragonfly

Yes I have been absent while working in AK and DGing in Rocky Mountain Gardening. The plant is just Creeping Jenny and seems to stay in check due to the dry conditions we have. It is kind of fun though when it creeps out into the gravel drive. It is nice to see the color and texture in the gravel. So does the potentilla near the same area. Lots of my neighbors come up and retrieve plants to fill their garden from the drive way.

I LOVE the smaller monardas and have a couple plants of the larger variety that Firevicar gave me last year. My butterflies love it as well, which is a great plus. It's done well here, where there is sun in the middle of the day, but shade in the morning and afternoon from the firs that surround me.

I have 2 different cultivars of Monarda in my gardens.

One I got at Flower World. It was one of many similar plants, 4 inch pot, plant about 6 feet tall with a purple blossom. Brought it home, planted it, and have not gotten it taller than about 3 feet. This one gets powdery mildew or something similar pretty bad. The flowers seem to have diminished in size in this location as the size has diminished from baseball to about golf ball sized.

I have another one that I got at Emery's which seems to be about 3 feet tall with scarlet blossoms, the flowers are about baseball sized. So far I have not seen much damage to these plants from any malady.

Dead heading these plants will force new blossoms on new growth coming from the leaf bases. The plants in general are long and spindly, and like lilies, seem to need support from the sides and consequently I have planted these were they will get that support from other plants.

Hey thanks, everyone. I was gone this weekend and when I got home tonight, there is yet another treasure chest of information for me! You guys rock! Analog ~ are the scarlet blossoms similar to the photo at the top of this post? If so, the pic is scarlet beebalm, or Monarda didyma. I LOVE this one!

Nice to have you back outta. So how is the parterre looking? Did he get all the beds built while you were away?

Hi Laurie ~ One bed to go! I went down to Portland this weekend to see my son and uncle. While at my uncle's house (which is constantly under renovation) I noticed several very large empty cardboard boxes on his front porch which, to his delight and mine, came home with me. It is supposed to be sunny for the next four days (all of which I get to spend at work work ~ *sigh*), so I expect DH will have the final bed built today. He also plans to mark out the space with string and stakes, so hopefully I can start working on them this weekend! WooHoo!

Doesn't it feel disproportionately exciting to collar some cardboard! One of our friends moved house - and first I politely said 'how's the new house, AND CAN I HAVE YOUR CARDBOARD' he brought me a whole van load, and kept apologizing the whole time we unloaded it while I looked delirious! I think I was practically drooling - Maybe he was apologizing to DH.

Monarda is beautiful, and will take over your garden. No problem keeping it cut back. Likes to be damp but not have its root sitting in water. Put a hummingbird feeder over it.
vicki

Yes Otta they are the same as the 'scarlet bee balm'. My DW bought them so I don't know the name of them. I love them and will plant more for color bursts in my garden.

Sofer ~ Thanks. Definitely going to be on my "to get" list. It would look stunning with something yellow or deep blue/purple...

I like my yellow Columbine. They are prettier. Is there a yellow monarda?

There's a little yellow verbascum. I love it - and I love the other smaller verbascums.

http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&mainPage=LGprodview&ItemId=48980

Okay...I want them both. They would look so GREAT with that scarlett monarda! I've never seen seeds for them around here, but really haven't looked much since this is my first year gardening. Do either of you have seeds for those? I have some empty pots... = D

All of my seeds go to scatter in the next bed I am building. Then I can discover the next hybrid and retire selling flowers. LOL

No seeds yet, but when/if I get them collected this year, I'll surely save some for you!!

Thanks, both. I will continue on my journey of yellow seed. . .

Good morning,

There are some very nice yellow daylilies that would look nice with the monarda too!

Stella d'Oro . . .

LOL Katie...it would have to come from you...mine is still young...
I was thinking Carolyn Criswell, Fooled Me, El Desperado, Pearl Harbor, Top Billing and my favorite yellow Shake the Mountains...

Carla ~ That is GORGEOUS! Is that Stella? Gotta have it ~

No that is Shake the Mountains...

Outta,

Sorry I was so short above, I was on the phone.
I have a lot of daylilies and love them all...the foilage is just as appealing to me as the flower. They do need to be planted near other plants that bloom a lot because they bloom for a shorter period than other flowers....but I must admit I am addicted to them. I will never have enough and if planted properly one can have a succession of flowers in different colors from June to 1st hard frost....
Stella de Oro is the yellow one you see planted in mass at various landscaped areas...it blooms forever
Here is another from my garden that I just love, name and all...It is "That Away"

Happy Gardening,
Carla

Stella d'Oro is a great standard for consistent yellow in the garden, but it's no where near as showy as those, Carla. Beautiful!!

Hey Carla ~ So...how are daylilies propagated? They are such eye candy and I can see beds and beds of them at my house. Some of every color. I have this vision of a wavy rainbow bed of flowers, all in bloom at the same time...*sigh*