By last summer I had almost forgotten about the native bee balm (also called wild bergamot) that I planted in my flower garden. Unfortunately I can’t remember where it came from. I would like to buy a lot more plants. You were a great success.
I’m always on the lookout for hardy plants to try when I go to plant stores or even other people’s gardens. Bee balm is one such sturdy perennial.
Like all real perennials, the tiny plants I brought home and planted in the ground spent their first year establishing themselves rather than producing lots of showy blooms.
Marilyn Quinn
And as with other perennials (these plants that come back from their roots year after year), the blooms only get better in the second year and the following years after that.
But the bee balm really picked up speed last summer. My wild bee balsam plants became large, high mounds that bloomed enthusiastically with shaggy heads of lavender-pink flowers. I was thrilled with the results.
Wild bergamot has been called the country cousin of the better-known garden plant, which is red bee balm. Both have a long flowering period: mid to late summer.
All bee balms are good pollinator magnets. The flowers are full of food for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Occasionally, on cool mornings, I have even spied on a sleepy bumblebee who apparently spent the night under a flower head – slept under his breakfast table, you might say.
Red bee balm always seems to be on lists of flowers that thrive in the shade. However, I find that in a high mountain climate like ours, these flowers do better if they are planted in more sun.
I actually prefer the lavender bee balm over the red one. It’s a plant that thrives in full sun.
If I could just grow a bee balm it would surely be the wild lavender bergamot. I’ve got the best results with it. And seeing a large lump of this lavender bee balm alive with grazing bees is one of my gardening pleasures every summer.
I was considering adding bee balm to the open class at the Teton County Fair this week. But I didn’t manage to get through Wilson’s daily traffic jam into town to get there on time. It would certainly have won a blue ribbon. Maybe next year, when the crowd has gotten a little less, I’ll be more competitive. Perhaps enter my giant marigolds, my maroon rooster comb from the greenhouse, and of course my wonderful sweet peas.
I love going to the fair every July and looking at the products and flowers that local gardeners have brought with them. It will be interesting this week to see what has grown well in this unusually hot and dry summer season.
Although it took some effort and a constant supply of water from a hose, most of my plantings look really great right now.
