Bee balm 'Purple Rooster'
Monarda didyma 'Purple Rooster' · Lamiaceae
Flower heads of a true, deep royal purple, the purest purple in the genus, on strong, upright stems.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 2 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to mid August
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around bee balm 'Purple Rooster'
The planner designed this bed around bee balm 'Purple Rooster' 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 'Purple Rooster' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bee balm 'Purple Rooster' × 3, purple
- 2 Winter heath × 7, pink
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 13, yellow
- 4 New England aster 'Alma Pötschke' × 4, pink
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Yarrow 'Cerise Queen' × 3, pink
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 2, purple
- 8 Schubert's allium × 2, pink
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
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to New England aster 'Alma Pötschke' (3½ 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 8 weeks. From late June to mid August.
- In company. With yarrow 'Cerise Queen' in late June: 2 kinds at once.
Planned as an English border: 3 of the 6 groups (50%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowers run from late January to mid October: 36 weeks in all. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 50 to 50, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 Satisfactory. 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 'Purple Rooster' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Selected for its colour and for foliage that stays clean without spraying. It does not flop, and spreads more slowly than most bee balms.
- Royal purple for midsummer
- Pollinator borders
- Cutting
What to plant with bee balm 'Purple Rooster'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Garden phlox: in flower together for five weeks, from mid July; happy in the same moist soil.
- Shasta daisy 'Becky': in flower together for seven weeks, from early July.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for eight weeks, from late June.
Questions about bee balm 'Purple Rooster'
Does bee balm 'Purple Rooster' need sun or shade?
Bee balm 'Purple Rooster' 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. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does bee balm 'Purple Rooster' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does bee balm 'Purple Rooster' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early July to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 9 | Mid 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 'Purple Rooster' be planted?
20 in (50 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2 ft (65 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many bee balm 'Purple Rooster' plants do I need?
At 20 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 4 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 14 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 bee balm 'Purple Rooster' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat bee balm 'Purple Rooster'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will bee balm 'Purple Rooster' spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by shallow runners. Divide it every three years.
What flowers after bee balm 'Purple Rooster'?
Bee balm 'Purple Rooster' is over by mid August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does bee balm 'Purple Rooster' look like in winter?
Bee balm 'Purple Rooster' 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.
Is bee balm 'Purple Rooster' good for bees and butterflies?
Bee balm 'Purple Rooster' is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of hermit sphinx, orange mint moth and raspberry pyrausta feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Monarda
- Bee balm Monarda didyma
- Bee balm 'Jacob Cline' Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline'
- Bee balm 'Petite Delight' Monarda 'Petite Delight'
- Bee balm 'Raspberry Wine' Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'
- Eastern bee balm Monarda bradburiana
- Spotted bee balm Monarda punctata
- Wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Plants that grow near black walnut
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Host plants for the hermit sphinx
- Host plants for the orange mint moth
- Host plants for the raspberry pyrausta
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 2 ft (65 cm) wide
- Plant
- 20 in (50 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to mid August; globes; purple
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds
- Host plant for
- Hermit sphinx, Orange mint moth, Raspberry pyrausta
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, wet soil, black walnut
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.