Perennials

Beebalm: Color and Aroma Guaranteed

Don’t look for a floral fragrance with beebalm: its flowers don’t smell of roses or jasmine, but of… lemons! And so do the leaves. What’s more, both leaves and flowers are edible. Perhaps you’ve already tried bergamot tea: well, that’s just beebalm! You can use it to make herbal teas and fresh summer drinks, or to add a hint of lemon to cooked dishes.

But most gardeners grow beebalm, also known as bergamot, bee balm or horsemint, not as an herb, but as a flowering perennial. Indeed, beebalm flowers, clustered in clumps at the top of the stems and always looking a little ruffled, are superb and long-lasting. Reds, pinks, purples and whites are all part of its palette. The flowers attract hummingbirds and bees to the garden. With a flowering season lasting up to 8 weeks, it’s a very interesting perennial to get to know.

Monarda ‘Mahogany’. Photo: Ilia Baksheev/Getty Images

Origins and cultivation

The colorful beebalm we’re currently sold are mostly derived from Monarda didyma, with a few genes from other species thrown in for good measure. The species is native to eastern North America, but is rare in Quebec, at least in the wild. It is usually found near water, in light shade, but acclimatizes well to full sun and the drier conditions of our flower beds. It prefers loose soil rich in organic matter. No staking is normally required.

It can be easily propagated by division or cuttings; however, the seeds are not always true to type and may give shapes and colors different from those of their parent.

Here, in Quebec, wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is more commonly found in the wild. This plant is native to much of North America. It grows naturally in meadows, forest edges, roadsides and clearings. It is appreciated for its beauty and its appeal to pollinators such as bees, hummingbirds and butterflies, particularly monarchs. Wild bergamot is also grown in gardens for its attractive flowers and pleasant fragrance.

Monarda fistulosa. Photo: samudri7

Its Two Weaknesses

Beebalm is a very popular perennial, but it has two shortcomings that must be recognized.

The first is agressive spreading. In fact, it spreads via stolons, underground stems, forming an ever-growing talus. It sometimes has to be put back in its place by pulling out the surplus. Fortunately, unlike some invasive plants, beebalm is easy to remove.

The other flaw is a susceptibility to powdery mildew. Towards the end of summer, when the plant is still in full bloom, a white powder appears to cover the foliage, but it’s not a powder you can remove with a feather duster. It’s a disease already embedded in the foliage, impossible to remove. Eventually, the foliage blackens and dies. Curiously, this doesn’t seem to affect the plant at all, which will grow back the following spring as vigorously as ever.

Controlling Powdery Mildew

You can’t get rid of powdery mildew once it’s visible. So if you wait to see symptoms before taking action, there’s no point in doing any treatment – the damage is already done. It can, however, be prevented. Some people have been spraying a fungicide (a mixture of baking soda and water works very well) weekly since spring and have had some success, but what a job! I prefer a more laidback approach.

Monarda ‘Colrain Red’ is a resistant variety. Photo: F. D. Richards from Clinton, MI

For example, it’s mainly when the plant is stressed by drought that it turns white. In its normal environment, i.e. an ever-wet swamp, this disease is rarely seen. Powdery mildew is a disease of civilization. So growing monarda in an environment that’s damp, really damp, like the edge of a water garden, can make all the difference.

Monarda ‘Raspberry Wine’. Photo: Mascdman

Or prefer cultivars that are resistant to this disease. Indeed, hybridizers, tired of hearing complaints from their customers, are working specifically to develop beautiful varieties that don’t do this disease, or if so, only on the lower leaves. Here’s a short list of resistant varieties: ‘Colrain Red’, ‘Croftway Pink’, ‘Elsie’s Lavender’, ‘Gardenview Scarlet’, ‘Jacob Cline’, ‘Petite Wonder’, ‘Petite Delight’, ‘Raspberry Wine’, ‘Rosy-Purple’, ‘Scorpio’, ‘Snow Maiden’, ‘Souris’ and ‘Violet Queen’.

Here are 2 easy ways to grow gorgeous monarda without too much effort. Try them and you’ll see how pretty and easy beebalm can be to grow!


Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books over the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This text was originally published in Le Soleil on July 15, 2006.

Garden writer and blogger, author of 65 gardening books, lecturer and communicator, the Laidback Gardener, Larry Hodgson, passed away in October 2022. Known for his great generosity, his thoroughness and his sense of humor, he reached several generations of amateur and professional gardeners over his 40-year career. Thanks to his son, Mathieu Hodgson, and a team of contributors, laidbackgardener.blog will continue its mission of demystifying gardening and making it more accessible to all.

2 comments on “Beebalm: Color and Aroma Guaranteed

  1. WOW, had this growing wild for years.
    Need to get the pretty colors, for wife’s Tea Garden!

  2. Native plants by definition are not invasive. Aggressive, yes. Terminology is important.

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