M is for Monarda

For me, Monarda or Bee Balm has always seemed like a flower that is having a bad hair day. 

At best it looks a bit disheveled, and at worst, it can look like a complete mess.

Flowers with the first flush of youth

This is wild Monarda at dusk in a nearby park...

Now looking a bit worse for wear!

Blooms now spent, the bald flower heads are ready to set seed.

So why do I have flowers that can sometimes downright unattractive in my garden? 

 It is simple: butterflies, bees and hummingbirds simply adore it and that is a good enough recommendation for me. 

I never cease to thrill when I see a hummingbird flitting among these bright red mopheads.

In my back garden, Monarda seems to have a mind of its own. It doesn't always show up where I place it. Instead sets off on road trips, spreading to wherever it finds is a favourable spot.

This spreading habit could be a problem, but I find it relatively easy to yank it out whenever it migrates to a spot I don't want it. 

(In my research for this post, I came across a reference that suggests that Monarda planted in part shade is more prone to a  spreading habit and is less likely to flower profusely. Thinking about it, I have noted that it tends to clump more densely in sun than shade.)

Monarda, Bee Balm in the Healing Garden of Bethesda 

United Church near Hamilton, ON

For most gardeners, Monarda's long history of medicinal use by Native North Americans is just an interesting footnote. The leaves when crushed exude a spicy, highly fragrant oil that has antiseptic properties. (Bee Balm is a natural source of Thymol which is the primary active ingredient in modern commercial mouthwashes). 

All I know is that I love the scent of the leaves as I work amongst the plants!

Monarda 'Raspberrry Wine' Height: 90-120 cm Spread: 60-75 cm Resistant to Powdery Mildew, Sun/Part Shade Mauve flowers in July and August.

Monarda also has culinary uses and apparently tastes like a mix between mint and oregano. One  of these days when I am feeling a bit adventurous, I would like to brew a pot of tea using its leaves, but for now, my experiments have been limited to trying out different colored cultivars.

'Raspberry Wine' is one of my early favourites. It is a bit taller than the common red Monarda and has wonderful maroon flowers.

I also have a soft mauve flower (Monarda didyma 'Panorama Mix') which seems to be struggling a bit in the half-shade of the back garden and may need to be moved to a sunnier location. 

Recently, I discovered a patch of similarly colored wild Monarda (Monarda fistulosa) growing in a local park. Even though its foliage was covered in mildew, it was quite beautiful (pictured above).

Monarda 'Marshall's Delight' Height: 75-120 cm Spread: 60-75 cm Resistant to Powdery Mildew, Sun/Part Shade Mauve flowers in July and August.

My 'Marshall's Delight' has been crowded out by other plants and also needs a new home. The flowers on this cultivar are a great shade of hot pink. Here is a better picture in another garden:

Monarda 'Marshall's Delight' in a private garden in Hamilton, ON

Monarda 'Petite Delight' Height: 30 cm with a compact habit, Spread: 45 cm, Resistant to Powdery Mildew, Sun/Part Shade, Mauve-Pink flowers in July and August.

Monarda, 'Grand Parade'  Seen here in the half-shade of a private Hamilton area garden

Monarda, 'Grand Parade' is a mid-sized Canadian selection. Height: 40-45 cm Spread: 50-60 cm Resistant to Powdery Mildew, Sun/Part Shade, Mauve flowers in July and August.

This is Monarda 'Coral Reef' Height: 90-100 cm Spread: 60-90 cm Resistant to Powdery Mildew, Sun/Part Shade Coral pink flowers in July and August.

I find the lower leaves on my Monarda drop off leaving bare flower stems, so it is good to hide its rather ugly legs with shorter perennials. Companion plants blooming at the same time might include: 

Catmint, Nepeta ' Walker's Low'

Echinacea

Dwarf Calamint, Calamintha nepeta

Phlox- although be careful which variety you choose as a companion plant beacuse both phlox and Monarda are prone to mildew.

Russian Sage

Even though it has a flower that sometimes looks like it is in desperate need of a comb 

Monarda is one plant I can't imagine being without.

My garden alphabet so far: 'A' is for Astilbe, 'B' is for Butterfly, Three 'C's, 'D' is for Delphinium, The Letters 'E' and 'F' , 'G' is for Geranium , 'H' is for Hollyhocks, 'I' is for Iris , 'J' is for Jacob's Ladder, I am skipping K for now because I am stumped for a 'K', 'L' is for Lobelia and now 'M' is for Monarda.

More Information and Links:

Richters Herbs in Goodwood, Ontario has a great collection of Monarda varieties on offer.

The Calm Before the Storm

Local radio stations have been repeatedly broadcasting severe thunderstorm warnings and even a risk of tornados for some parts of the Provence. 

After recent heavy rainfalls and flash flooding, I think we are all a bit gun shy in Southern Ontario. A little over a week ago, a relentless downpour halted traffic, flooded basements and left many parts of the the Greater Toronto Area in darkness for hours. 

Fourteen hundred passengers got trapped on a commuter train when part of the Don Valley filled with storm water. Terrified passengers huddled together on the upper deck of the train while the lower compartments filled with water. Thankfully firefighters and police were able to rescue everyone safely by boat.

In the sunshine this morning it seemed hard to imagine another 

bad storm might be on the horizon.

The roses in the front garden are just about rest before they bloom one 

final time in late summer/early fall.

I find it disheartening to watch Japanese Beetles eat and fornicate all at the same time (Canadian Explorer Series, John Cabot Rose).

They seem to feast on some roses and not others. 

Could it possible that a bug can have a color preference? If so, yellow is a Japanese Beetle's favourite color. They simply adore all my yellow roses!

These more open roses and the fragrant less Fairy roses along the front remain largely untouched (Hybrid Musk rose 'Robin Hood'). 

Daylilies and hostas are carrying most of the show at the moment.

These are the most common daylilies I have, but I still love them.

This is a pretty miniature daylily, which is cream colored when not illuminated by the sun. Hemerocallis, 'Precious D'Oro'

White Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata 'Ice Ballet'

Ornamental onion, Allium 'Summer beauty'

Double Soapwart, Saponaria officinalis 

I have a quite a number of garden centre clearance items and new plants that are lined up waiting to be planted like cars caught in a rush hour traffic jam. 

Pink Betony, Stachys officinalis, 'Pink Cotton Candy' and Butterfly Weed, Asclepias Tuberosa are among them.

Bee Balm, Monarda,'Rasberry Wine'

This is my jungly herb garden minus the parsley that the bunnies have beheaded.

Hopefully, the storm forecast for this evening never does materialize.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Roses & Roses that don't Look like Roses

Ironically, as we head towards the hottest part of summer, there was a definite chill in the air at dawn this morning. I hate to the 'f' word, but with the nip in the air, it felt like fall. I am sure when a cloud of humidity descends over the city in the middle of July and settles in for a few weeks stay, this cool early morning will seem like a distant oasis from the relentless heat. 

The light was wonderfully golden this morning. As we took our morning stroll, the dogs and I disturbed the big brown mosquitoes from their resting places. I swear these retched vampires are the size of small birds! At least you can see them coming and feel them landing.

In the garden, there is a general changing of the guard. The last of the peonies have finished and the soft pink spirea have faded to a deep tan color. Roses have stepped into fill the void. The hostas have hoisted their mid-summer flags and the deep pink spirea are filling in nicely for their pale pink cousins.

'Graham Thomas' here and in the opening shot.

The deep pink spirea

In the front garden, there is red Monarda with their crazy mop heads.

The evening primrose is still going strong.

 At the side of the house there are big white daisies...

and little white daisies (Feverfew).

There is also a tiny Moonbeam coreopsis in flower.

Along the front of the picket fence, the 'Fairy' is beginning her magic.

Keeping the 'Fairy' company, are a few roses that look more like apple blossoms than standard roses. This is the Musk rose 'Robin Hood'.

There is also the Polyantha shrub rose called "Marjorie Fair'.

A "clearance" clematis hangs down over the picket fence.

Just inside the picket fence is this little soldier 'Vigorosa Raspberry'.

My favourite is still got to be the 'Mary Rose'. 

And you can't beat this workhorse. Canadian Explorer series rose 'John Cabot'. 

The back garden is quieter. There is too much shade for it ever to be a riot of blooms.

Still, there are more subtle forms of beauty worth taking a moment to appreciate.

 The work of the new veggie beds is almost complete. This is a project that 

seems to have dragged on forever!

Hopefully soon, there will be more zucchini than I know what to do with. More about that later...

'Carefree Beauty'

For today, I end on a rosie note.

Today I am going to link to the Creative Exchange and later in the week to Cottage Floral Thursday at Fishtail Cottage. To see other great posts, simply click the links.