Bee Balm Scarlet Red Shades Monarda Didyma is a perennial herb that is native to North America and belongs to mint family. Easily grown from Bee Balm Scarlet Red Shades seeds, this sturdy perennial wildflower is known by a number of different common names including Beebalm, Oswego Tea, Bergamot, Firecracker Plant, Horsemint, Mountain Mint, Scarlet Monarda, and this particular variety of Monarda Didyma is a bushy, clump-forming plant with the mint-scented leaves and very showy, tubular, bright scarlet-red flowers that are formed into globular, terminal, 3-4 inches across flower heads. The scented Bergamot flowers are like a magnet to various pollinators including bumblebees, swallowtail butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Bee Balm Scarlet Red Shades is one of the best perennial flowers to grow in bird and butterfly gardens, border fronts, cottage and cutting gardens, herb and wild gardens, naturalized landscapes and along ponds or streams. Growing Oswego Tea herb from Monarda Didyma seeds is a great way to establish this popular upright perennial that expands into colonies from vigorous rhizomes requiring low maintenance, tolerating clay and sand soil, and resisting rabbit and dear. The Red Monarda flowers make wonderful fresh or dry cut flowers, and they are also edible and used in teas or in potpourri.
PLANT PROFILE
Season: Perennial
Height: 36 Inches
Bloom Season: Summer
Environment: Sun/Partial Shade
Soil Type: Rich/Moist well-drained, pH 6.1-7.3
USDA Zones: 4-9
PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS
Sow Indoors: Winter/Spring (4-6 weeks before last frost)
Sow Outdoors: Spring/Summer/Fall
Seed Depth: Surface sowing - press seeds slightly into the soil and cover thinly, no more than the thickness of the seed
Germination Time: 14-21 Days
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