Bee balm 'Petite Delight'
Monarda 'Petite Delight' · Lamiaceae
A dwarf bee balm, knee high at most, with lavender-rose flowers over a dense clump of glossy, crinkled leaves.
- Size
- 14 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to early August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around bee balm 'Petite Delight'
The planner designed this bed around bee balm 'Petite Delight' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why bee balm 'Petite Delight' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bee balm 'Petite Delight' × 3, pink
- 2 Winter heath × 5, white
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 22, yellow
- 4 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 5, pink
- 5 Swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' × 3, white
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
- 8 Darwin hybrid tulip × 7, red
Why this plant
- Nothing here is unique to it. Its leaf, flower shape and colour are all on the plan already. Its case rests on where it stands and when it performs.
Why here
- In the middle. At 14 in it is the step between winter heath (10 in) in front and swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' (3½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- A step in the back row. Next to ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' (2½ ft) and turtlehead 'Hot Lips' (3 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From late June to early August.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' and turtlehead 'Hot Lips' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Silver sage, mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' and winter heath finish the front edge.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where bee balm 'Petite Delight' goes in a border
At 14 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The first truly dwarf bee balm, bred in Manitoba. It brings the shaggy flower and the bees to the front of the border and to pots.
- Bee balm for the front of a border
- Containers
- Small gardens
What to plant with bee balm 'Petite Delight'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Garden phlox: in flower together for four weeks, from mid July; tall enough (3½ ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Lady's mantle: in flower together for two weeks, from late June; happy in the same moist soil.
- Cranesbill 'Rozanne': in flower together for seven weeks, from late June.
Questions about bee balm 'Petite Delight'
Does bee balm 'Petite Delight' need sun or shade?
Bee balm 'Petite Delight' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does bee balm 'Petite Delight' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does bee balm 'Petite Delight' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to early August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early July to mid August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 6 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should bee balm 'Petite Delight' be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 14 in (35 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many bee balm 'Petite Delight' plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like bee balm 'Petite Delight'?
Bee balm 'Petite Delight' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Pink tickseed: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late June to early September, fine leaves, not medium.
- Stokes' aster: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 4 in taller, blue, purple or white, not pink.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after bee balm 'Petite Delight'?
Bee balm 'Petite Delight' is over by early August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Hosta 'Guacamole': from early August to late August, 24 in tall.
What does bee balm 'Petite Delight' look like in winter?
Bee balm 'Petite Delight' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Monarda
- Bee balm Monarda didyma
- Bee balm 'Jacob Cline' Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline'
- Bee balm 'Purple Rooster' Monarda didyma 'Purple Rooster'
- Bee balm 'Raspberry Wine' Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'
- Eastern bee balm Monarda bradburiana
- Spotted bee balm Monarda punctata
- Wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 14 in (35 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late June to early August; globes; pink, lavender
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Mounding, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Lamiaceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.