Monarda fistulosa (Wild Beebalm / Bergamot)

One of our first native plants added to our garden, wild beebalm, or wild bergamot, is a beloved mint family member of most pollinator plantings. This plant occurs naturally in dry to moist meadows and thickets in full sun, but grows and flowers well in part sun as well, such as a forest edge or open woodlands. 

Its nickname of 'wild bergamot' refers to the peppery / citrusy scent of the leaves reminiscent of the unrelated bergamot orange fruit, which is used to flavor earl gray tea. Monarda fistulosa is not used for making traditional earl gray, but can be used fresh or dried to make a minty herbal tea on its own.

Wild beebalm is truly a balm for long-tongued bees, predatory wasps, butterflies and moths such as hummingbird moths. Hummingbirds also visit the tubular pink-lavender flowers in summertime. Monarda species support several rare and uncommon specialist pollinator bees, which can only survive by visiting the flowers of this genus and a select few other species to feed.

Seed-grown species of Monarda can be quite variable, allowing for a colony of plants to have a modest diversity of bloom colors and flowering ranges. Monarda fistulosa spreads by shallow rhizomes to form a colony, spreading by a up to a foot in a single year in its utmost preferred conditions. As such it is a great naturalizer and filler in meadows and landscapes, and incapable of out-competing taller plants.

Many of the Monarda species are susceptible to powdery mildew on their leaves, typically late in the season after flowering is completed. This white mildew is naturally occurring and doesn't cause harm to the plant, but can look untidy to some gardeners, who may choose to cut the plant back close to the ground. We advise against this, as Monarda have hollow stems which are used by some solitary bees for overwintering their young, so consider leaving the stems up late in the season. Birds such as goldfinches will also pick over the small sand-sized seeds from the upright flowerheads in fall and winter.