'Bee-Balm' or 'Sweet Bergamot' or 'Horsemint' or 'Oswego Tea' (mo-NARD-ha DI-di-ma) This selection should produce some nice plants with good mildew resistance, it’s a mix tilted more toward the violets and purples and wine-red. These are hybrid plants from the M. didyma and M. fistulosa(fist-ew-LO-sa). Hummingbirds really love these plants. Plants grow 2.5 to 3.5 feet tall and will form a spreading clump that will reach three to four feet wide in a year or two. Clumps should be divided every three years to remove excess woody growth which will over time retard good growth. Most plants out of this seed strain have good mildew resistant and the colors are bright and showy. A nice way to have a selection of the red shaded Monarda for the butterfly and hummingbird garden. Great cut flowers to with fragrant foliage. Plants do best in cool soils in light - open shade, will grow in full sun too, but do not let the soil bake dry. These seed strains are tolerant of a wide range of soils while the parent species are more restricted: M. didyma likes moist to even wet soils while M. fistulosa likes dry soils.
Zones 4-9 (10)
Plants sown this year will bloom the next year and are easy to grow from seed, take cutting of the best forms and root them in late spring or divide clumps in late summer.(Very early spring) surface sow seeds while the air temps are still cool or put in the fridge for 2 weeks, grow out seedlings under cool conditions 55-65 F. Light needed for best germination. The species are native from eastern North America in open woods and prairies. Plants have been used as teas, the young leaves in salads and for flavoring for meats.
50 seeds
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