Bee balm
Bee balm: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
Bee balms belong to the herbaceous genus Monarda, in the mint family, Lamiaceae, and originate from North America. The name covers several species and numerous garden varieties. Many garden bee balms are clump-forming perennials, but the genus also includes plants with shorter life cycles. Scent, height and flower colour are therefore not identical across all of them. This diversity allows a plant to be chosen for its flowers, aromatic foliage or a combination of both, rather than a single set of features shared by every selection.The upright stems are square in cross-section, a feature often found in this family. Opposite leaves are usually oval and toothed, green to dark green and sometimes tinged with purple. Their fragrance becomes noticeable when the leaves are bruised. At the tops of the stems, small tubular flowers with two lips gather into heads or whorls. What looks like one large flower is therefore a…
