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Wild bergamot offers a variety of benefits such as soil stabilization, fragrant flowers, and food source for butterflies and hummingbirds. Drought tolerant.

Wild bergamot offers a variety of benefits such as soil stabilization, fragrant flowers, and food source for butterflies and hummingbirds. Drought tolerant. USDA, NRCS. 2012. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 8 October 2012). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.

Monarda fistulosa

Wild bergamot

Native to North America


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FIRST IMPRESSIONS:  Monarda fistulosa is a sturdy perennial wildflower that expands to form upright clumps.  This beebalm bears deep green aromatic leaves on strong square stems.  In summer, plants are topped by showy rounded clusters of fragrant lavender tubular flowers.  Pollinators flock to the blooms in sunny prairie-like settings or in gardens with average well drained soils.

HABITAT & HARDINESS:  Monarda fistulosa occurs through most of North America. Plants are absent from a few Canadian provinces and from Florida and California.

This species is indigenous to Blackland prairies, savannas, margins of woods, sandy

Black Oak woodlands, edges of limestone glades, thickets, roadsides, fence rows, clearcuts and abandoned fields.  Plants occur in high quality prairies type habitats but the durable rhizomes can also survive in disturbed sites.

Plants are hardy from USDA Zones 3-8.

PLANT DESCRIPTION:  Monarda fistulosa is an upright perennial that expands into colonies from shallow vigorous rhizomes.

Stems are smooth, green and square.  They branch frequently in the upper half.  The aromatic leaves are arranged opposite from each other on short petioles along the stems.   

Leaf blades are deep green and lanceolate to ovate. They are 4” long and 2” wide with toothed edges and pointed tips.

The stems terminate in rounded 2-3” flower clusters.  The flowers are tubular, fragrant and about 1” long.  Each corolla tube is actually a ring of united petals with a soft pink or lavender color.  The tubes are pubescent with lobes toward the tip and exserted stamens.

The flowers are born in a ring on dense head-like cymes.  The lobes and stamens of individual flowers give the flower clusters a ragged appearance.  

Blooming lasts for about 6 weeks and is followed by ovoid nutlets that are nestled into brown button-like cymes.

Plants grow 2-4’ tall with 3’ spread.

CULTURAL & MAINTENANCE NEEDSMonarda fistulosa thrives in full sun and moist fertile soil.  Plants tolerate part sun, clay, alkaline pH, heat and drought. 

Plants bloom more vigorously if they are divided in spring or fall every 3-4 years.

This species is prone to powdery mildew especially during rainy weather. 

Irrigation during drought and pruning to thin dense growth helps to enhance the resistance. 

The aromatic foliage is unpalatable to deer, rabbits and other herbivores. 

LANDSCAPE USES:  This is a good choice for a Wildlife Garden, Cut Flower Garden, or Meadow. Plants are also used as Butterfly Nectar Plants or as part of a Grouping or Mass Planting.   Monarda fistulosa has Showy Blooms and is appropriate for Cottage Gardens, Deer Resistant Plantings, Water-wise Landscapes, Low Maintenance Plantings and Perennial Borders.

COMPANION & UNDERSTUDY PLANTS:  Try pairing Monarda fistulosa with Coreopsis tripteris, Rudbeckia hirta, Liatris spicata, Schizachyrium scoparium and Andropogon gerardii.

Monarda bradburiana has similar appearance and culture and could be substituted in some situations.

TRIVIA:  Long tongued bees, butterflies, skippers, hummingbird moths and hummingbirds sip nectar from the flowers.  Caterpillars of several moth species feed on the foliage.  The aromatic leaves and stems are unpalatable to deer and other herbivores.

This species is called Wild Bergamot due to the similarity of its fragrance to the fruit of Citrus bergamia, the Bergamot Orange. 

Monarda fistulosa contains thymol which is also prevalent in oil of thyme.  The plant was used medicinally because of thymol’s aromatic and antiseptic properties.


Height:

2-4 ft

Spread:

2-3 ft

Spacing:

12-18 in

USDA Hardiness Zone:

3-8

Bloom Color:

Purple

Monarda fistulosa Characteristics

Attracts Wildlife

  • Pollinators
  • Hummingbirds
  • Butterflies

Attributes

  • Dried Flower
  • Cut Flower
  • Clay Soil
  • Naturalizing
  • Long Blooming
  • Fragrant
  • Drought Tolerant

Exposure

  • Full Sun

Deer Resistant

  • Deer Resistant

Flowering Months

  • August
  • July
  • June

Foliage Color

  • Green

Growth Rate

  • Medium

Juglans nigra Tolerance (Black Walnut)

  • Yes

Salt Tolerance

  • Medium

Season of Interest (Foliage)

  • Summer

Soil Moisture Preference

  • Moist to Wet

Interesting Notes:

For more information on this plant, visit the USDA PLANTS Database: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MOFI


Plants that work well with Monarda fistulosa ''

New England aster New England aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Harebell (No Advance Orders) Harebell (No Advance Orders) (Campanula rotundifolia)
Tall coreopsis Tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris)
PowWow White coneflower PowWow White coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'PowWow White')
Coneflower Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'PowWow Wild Berry')
Joe pye weed Joe pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum)
Hyssop leaved boneset Hyssop leaved boneset (Eupatorium hyssopifolium)
Spotted Joe pye weed Spotted Joe pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum)
Boneset Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Sweet Joe pye weed Sweet Joe pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
Common sneezeweed Common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)
Ox-eye sunflower Ox-eye sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)
Hula Dancer cone flower Hula Dancer cone flower (Echinacea pallida 'Hula Dancer')
Judith's bee balm Judith's bee balm (Monarda x 'Judith's Fancy Fuchsia')
Barbara's buttons Barbara's buttons (Marshallia grandiflora)
Beard tongue Beard tongue (Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red')
Summer phlox Summer phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Giant coneflower Giant coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima)
Cup plant Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
Upland ironweed Upland ironweed (Vernonia glauca)
Iron Butterfly ironweed Iron Butterfly ironweed (Vernonia lettermannii 'Iron Butterfly')
Lawn Sedge Lawn Sedge (Carex leavenworthii)
Golden Alexander's Golden Alexander's (Zizia aureus)
Grey-Headed Coneflower Grey-Headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
shrubby St John's wort shrubby St John's wort (Hypericum prolificum)
Virginia wild rye Virginia wild rye (Elymus virginicus)

Substitutions for Monarda fistulosa

Claire Grace Bee Balm Claire Grace Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa 'Claire Grace')
Eastern beebalm Eastern beebalm (Monarda bradburiana)
Thousand-flowered aster Thousand-flowered aster (Boltonia asteroides)