Garden of Edith -- Hummingbirds Love Beebalm

by Edith Isidoro-Mills -- A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Liatris, a flower that attracted hummingbirds to my garden.  It isn't the only flower that I saw hummingbirds feeding on last year.  Beebalm, Monarda fistulosa, also attracted hummingbirds and put on quite a floral display. Beebalm is native to North America and grows wild in almost all the lower 48 contiguous states except California and Florida.  In the wild, it favors mountain meadows and forests west of the Great Plains.  East of the Great Plains, it grows in most habitats. It tolerates a wide range of soil conditions from acidic to alkaline.  It is perennial so once established in your garden it will come up year after year. The beebalm growing in my garden is the wild variety I started from seed in my greenhouse.  I purchased the seed from a company that sells only native seed so mine look like what you might find on a hike in the mountains.  If you have a place to start seed indoors, beebalm is not hard to start from seed.  I sprinkled the small seeds on the surface of moist potting soil with just a sprinkling of potting soil over them.  Then I put the seed tray on a misting bench. If you don't have a misting bench then the tray can be covered with a plastic dome to keep moisture in the already moistened potting soil. Beebalm seed is very small so starting seed outdoors directly in the garden is more difficult.  Purchasing potted beebalm plants is preferable if you don't have a greenhouse or well lit indoor space for starting seeds.  Another advantage of purchasing potted plants is that you most likely with be buying a plant that is a cultivar that has been selected for its flower color and mildew resistance. Beebalm flower color varies from white to red to deep purple and lavender.  My beebalm gets mildew on the leaves.  The mildew doesn't kill the plant but it can be unsightly. Mildew doesn't affect the flowers. Beebalm does well in almost any soil but it will need watering in Churchill County since it is a plant mostly found in our mountain meadows and forests. It doesn't need a lot of fertilizer and over fertilizing it may make it more susceptible to mildew.  A location that has good drainage but doesn't dry out fast would be an ideal location for beebalm. It can get tall so you might want to put it at back of a flower bed if you low growing perennials or annuals in the same bed. After the flowers have expired, the round seed heads are interesting to look at and they attract birds all winter.  So I wait to remove the previous season's growth until the next year so I can watch the birds eat the seed. Beebalm seed can be purchased from companies that sell native seed.  Also many vegetable and herb seed companies as herb seed.  Potted beebalm can be purchase from some garden centers if they have a wide variety of perennials for sale.  Otherwise, you may have to buy it online from a mail order nursery.  If your local nursery doesn't sell it, look online as there are a number of mail order nurseries that sell beebalm.   Sign up to receive updates and the Friday File email notices. Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon.