EVERY FLOWER is a little piece of heaven to nectar-craving insects, birds or butterflies, and the butterfly garden, which is now thick with flowers, is an insect heaven. At the top of the hill, ...

Many native plants are good to have in your garden but are not always the most impressive looking. Monarda is an exception to this belief since it produces an abundance of colorful flowers during ...

Monarda and its best-known bee balm species is a hot native plant at the moment because of a renewed interest in planting plants that attract pollinators. Few plants do a better job at that than ...

Bee balm (Monarda didyma) is one of nature's more improbable looking plants. The most common type of bee balm, scarlet bee, is often planted as a hardy perennial in flower beds. The bright red flowers ...

You probably know this popular perennial as bee balm, Oswego tea or bergamot. Monarda is a member of the mint family — with the characteristic square stems, opposite leaves and fragrant foliage. The ...

Throw all of your preconceived notions about the monarda or bee balm out the door. I have more flowers now on my monardas than I normally get from an entire season’s bloom. I am talking about the ...

I bought the herb labeled “Bee Balm” on a lark. I planted the small ground hugging perennial that summer and watched it spread into a patch of green. When the second year arrived it bloomed in huge ...

Over the winter, I witnessed a new phenomenon: a doe and two fawns strolling down my street. I am convinced they were surveying the dining possibilities for spring and summer. My first reaction was to ...

John and Jeanne Hess of Redmond took home armloads of bee balm (Monarda didyma), crocosmia, hostas, Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum) and yellow foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora) for the grand total ...

Monarda, Monarda fistulosa, often called wild bergamot or bee balm, is a native North American plant that is now found in gardens all over the world. Here in our area, groups of the plants can be seen ...

A member of the mint family of herbaceous perennials, monarda’s perfumed leaves branch off from its telltale four-sided stem, and a riot of bright red or pink trumpetlike petals perch atop the tall, ...