I was watering the newly planted blueberry bushes when I saw an exceptionally large insect on the Bee Balm. I looked again and saw the hummingbird sipping from the flower. He slipped away and I believe I saw him darting around across the street.
The bee balms took forever to get established and bloom, and now they have their peculiar flower on top. One variety is white. The others are red, unless I overlooked a second outlier. Bee balm is quite popular among gardeners, bees, and hummingbirds. The plant has many names -
- Bergamot,
- Horse Mint,
- Bee Balm,
- and Oswego Tea.
Bee Balm belongs to the genus Monarda, named after the Spanish botanist who wrote about it.
Here are suggestions for growing Bee Balm.
Medicinal uses for Bee Balm are here.
I bought some extra plants for very little from Walmart. They are doing well, but still small. The others were planted in the early spring.
I put one Bee Balm in Mrs. Gardener's Rose Garden. I also have coreopsis growing at the end of the row.
Sassy saw that I was up at 5 AM and she was ready to walk. I made coffee and took her out at 6 AM, a great time to plant.
Yesterday I had 7 plants to put in - 6 Blackberries and 1 Beautyberry. Today I had 9 Blueberry bushes in the best soil, watered generously last night.
The shovel lost its magic and found almost no tree roots, only small ones, and two brick fragments. That was just the opposite of planting a circle of roses around the maple tree, which is now a beautiful rose garden, fully mulched, by itself.
I might get some pine needles to mulch the Blueberries, but I began - as advised - by mixed in peat as I dug in the berries. I soaked each pot in rainwater first and hosed them afterwards.
I found a place to put two bushes just outside the Jackson Bird Spa, adding fresh fruit to their resort - multiple baths, a community pool, feeding areas, and suet.
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| By Norma Boeckler |