JoAnne Skelly: Beebalm is not just for bees

My friend Laura dug up some beebalm plants recently and gave me some. I had been watching the hummingbirds flock around her scarlet flowered plants, so I was thrilled to try them at home.

I have never grown beebalm, Monarda didyma, so I looked into it. It is a member of the mint (Lamiaceae) family. It is also known as bergamot, horsemint or Oswego tea. There are over 50 cultivars of beebalm available from nurseries.

They vary in flower color, bloom period, plant height, disease resistance, winter injury and deer resistance. There are many dwarf cultivars available too. Because it is in the mint family, most mammals will leave beebalm alone.

Ask the knowledgeable people at Greenhouse Garden Center for advice on selecting the perfect cultivar for your yard. Laura’s plants were four to five feet tall and covered with bright red flowers that bloom from June to September on the end of the tall stalks. Other colors include white, pink, lavender and purple.

Deadheading will help prolong the bloom period. According to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plant guide, beebalm does best in moist, but well-drained, organic matter-rich soils in full sunlight.

In partial shade it tends to be leggier and produce less flowers. I imagine it might do better in our area with a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day. The USDA hardiness zones for beebalm are zones 4-9, so they will survive as perennials.

As I noticed, hummingbirds love this plant. So do butterflies, bees and other pollinators as long as they can get their long proboscises (sucking mouthparts) or small bodies down the long flower tubes.

To give my transplants the best chance of survival, I added organic matter to the holes. Next spring I will fertilize with an all-purpose fertilizer such as a 10-10-10 or 16-16-16. According to the NRCS guide, I should be able to divide plants after a few years.

If I get any flowers, I plan on collecting seed to sow in various beds in the yard. I’m hoping they will spread by their underground rhizomes (stems). The logic behind the name is that by crushing the leaves of the plant and rubbing that on your skin, it is a soothing balm for bee stings.

Many gardening sites online call beebalm “a star in the summer garden.” You may want to plant it where you can see it from a window, so you can watch the hummingbirds.

For information: https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_modi.pdf

JoAnne Skelly is Associate Professor & Extension Educator Emerita at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Email skellyj@unr.edu.