Our Bee Balm Mix produces clusters of showy, tubular flowers that bloom in a range of colors with petals arranged in a unique whorled pattern that creates a striking visual effect. This mix has a delightful fragrance that attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to the garden. The scent is often described as spicy or minty, and it can fill the air with its sweet aroma. Bee balm has been used for centuries by Native Americans for its diverse qualities.
![]()
LIFE CYCLE: Perennial
COLOR: Mixed
BLOOM SEASON: Summer
PLANTING SEASON: Fall, Spring
LIGHT REQUIREMENT: Full Sun
PLANT HEIGHT: 24 to 40 inches
GROWTH HABIT: Spreading, Upright
HARDINESS ZONES: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
SOWING METHOD: Direct Sow, Start Indoors
![]()
Instructions for planting and care:
How to sow seeds
In the southern regions, monarda seeds are sown directly into the ground on fine days in February, where they undergo natural stratification during two cold months, as a result of which friendly strong shoots appear in April, which will only have to thin out. If there is snow on the site, remove it, cover the area with a film so that the ground warms up, then loosen the soil by adding a little sand to the top layer and mixing the seeds with sand in a ratio of 1:4, sow them. From above, the seeds are also slightly covered with sand. The sealing depth should be no more than 2.5 cm. It is possible to carry out sowing in the ground in the fall, immediately after collecting seeds, and in the spring only to unpick the seedlings, then in a year the grown and strengthened bushes will bloom. The monarch rises very slowly.
Seedling care
However, most often the monarda is grown in a seedling way. In order to get monarda seedlings by spring, it is sown in January or February in boxes with soil for vegetable crops, sealing the seeds by 2-2.5 cm, and placed in a greenhouse, keeping the temperature under the film at least 20 ° C. Seedlings appear after three weeks, and after another three weeks, seedlings dive into containers according to the 3x3 or 4x4 scheme to increase the feeding area for them.
When to plant, planting and caring for the monarda in the open ground are not difficult. The monarda prefers to grow in a sunny place protected from the wind, although it feels good in partial shade. It is not picky to soils, but grows best on light, calcareous soils, and in damp and acidic soil monarda develops poorly. It is best to plant the monarda in spring, but the plot for it is prepared from autumn: it is dug up, cleaned of weeds, and adding 2-3 kg of peat, manure or compost, 20-30 g of potassium salt, 40-50 g of superphosphate and 40 g of lime for each m2. In the spring, before planting, 20-30 g of nitrogen fertilizer is applied to the soil for each m2.
How to plant
Two months after the emergence of seedlings, when they form three pairs of leaves, the seedlings are planted on a prepared plot at a distance of at least 60 cm from each other. The planting of the monarda ends with abundant watering. Seedlings tolerate light spring frosts up to -5 ° C painlessly. Monarda blooms from seeds usually only after a year, but with the seedling method, the most developed specimens can bloom already in the current year.
Growing conditions
Monarda needs frequent but moderate watering, especially in the hot season, otherwise there is a danger of powdery mildew disease of the plant. At the peak of the heat, daily watering may be necessary. In addition, in hot and dry summers, it is necessary to mulch the area with the attic with leaf humus or peat. Regularly loosen the soil around the monarda bushes and remove weeds. Monarda cultivation also provides for feeding the plant with granulated Kemira or Agricola every two weeks from mid-May to early autumn. Monarda reacts well to organic matter, for example, to mullein diluted in a ratio of 1:10. For preventive purposes, monarda is treated with Fundazole and copper sulfate in spring and autumn.
Reproduction of monards Since varietal characteristics are not preserved when growing monards from seeds, it is most reliable to propagate varietal, and species monards by dividing three or four-year-old bushes.
How and when to collect seeds
Monarda seeds ripen in nuts in late August or early September. If you have a desire to do breeding work, you can collect them and immediately sow or grow seedlings that can be planted in the ground in the spring. And you can save the seeds in order to sow in a year or two, since the germination period of monarda seeds with proper storage is three years. We remind you that the seeds of the varietal monarda do not retain their parental properties, only species plants are grown in a generative way.
Preparing for winter
If you do not need monarda seeds, leave the fruits on the bushes – in autumn they will be very useful to hungry birds. The remains of annual monarda species are disposed of, and the plot is prepared for the culture that will be grown next year. Monarda is a perennial winter hardy, it can withstand frosts up to -25 ° C, but if you are afraid that the winter will be not only cold, but also snowless, insulate the area with a thick layer of mulch or throw lapnik.