Bee Balm or Monarda is a Bee Magnet

Spring is Approaching fast!

 Things to Consider for Spring

• Germinating Your Own Herb Seeds

• Ordering Potted Herb Plants

• Controlling Garden Pests

• Composting - Using Compost

• Drying and Storing Your Herbs

• Soil Fertility - Soil Testing Your Herb Garden Soil

• How the Changing Weather Will Affect Your Herb Garden

Bee Balm, or Monarda didyma, is a magnet for bees, humming birds and butterflies of all kinds!

Plant type: Hardy perennial

Growing Zones: 4 - 9

Monarda didyma

Bee balm is a member of the mint family, though in your herb garden, much showier than most of it's cousins. It flowers in July and August displaying a variety of colors, and depending on variety, grows to four feet tall, favoring full sun. Like other members of the mint family it is best propagated by division, planting the divisions in moist soil, spring or fall, 12 to 15 inches apart. The neutral ph garden soil should be rich in organic matter such as manure, commercial compost or well composted yard waste.

Bee Balm plants can, occasionally, be stimulated to bloom a second time in a year by trimming the flowers after the fist blooms show their color and fade. In the fall, trim the Monarda plants to within an inch of the ground, fertilizing in the spring with a good 10-10-10 fertilizer.

Thomas Kueny - Publisher - http://www.growing-herbs.com