![]() ![]() Common name of wild bergamot is in reference to the purported similarity of the aroma of plant flowers to the bergamot orange. ![]() The toothed, aromatic leaves (3-5” long) are still used today for teas and in salads. During summer, small white flowers full of nectar appear. It grows to a maximum height of 1 m (3 ft 3 in). Common name of Oswego tea is in reference to a former use of plants leaves for tea by the Oswego Indians of New York State. Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the mint family and native to south-central Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, Iran, and Central Asia, but now naturalised elsewhere. Common name of bee balm is in reference to a former use of plant resins to soothe bee stings. Specific epithet from Latin means in pairs in reference to the plant stamens being in pairs. Genus name honors Nicholas Monardes (1493-1588), physician and botanist of Seville. Attractive to bees, hummingbirds and butterflies, particularly when massed. Plant foliage declines after bloom, particularly if infected with mildew. Long summer bloom extends for about 8 weeks from early/mid-summer to late summer. Each flowerhead is subtended by a whorl of showy, red-tinged, leafy bracts. ![]() In hotter areas of the south or southwestern US, a little partial shade in the afternoon will help the flowering season to last a bit longer and will protect the perennial varieties of bee balm from the scorching heat of the afternoon. Leaves emit a minty fragrance when bruised or crushed. Bee balm is a full sun plant, so in much of the United States, you can plant it in full sun to promote blooming. Flowerheads bloom atop 2-4’ tall square stems clad with opposite, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, medium to deep green leaves (3-6” long) with serrate margins. It is a somewhat coarse, clump-forming, mint family member that features tubular, two-lipped, bright scarlet-red flowers crowded into dense, globular, terminal flowerheads (to 3-4” across) somewhat resembling unkempt mop-heads. Monarda didyma, known by a number of different common names including bee balm, Oswego tea and bergamot, is native to eastern North America where it typically occurs in bottomlands, thickets, moist woods and along streambanks from Maine to Minnesota south to Missouri and Georgia. ![]()
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