Eastern bee balm
Monarda bradburiana · Lamiaceae
The earliest and tidiest bee balm: pale pink, purple-spotted flowers in May on a compact clump, with leaves that are purple-tinted in spring and resistant to mildew.
- Size
- 20 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early May to mid June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around eastern bee balm
The planner designed this bed around eastern bee balm when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why eastern bee balm stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Eastern bee balm × 3, pink
- 2 Winter heath × 12, white
- 3 Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips' × 8, blue
- 4 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 5 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 5, tan
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 5, purple
- 8 Daffodil 'Dutch Master' × 12, yellow
Why this plant
- The only pink.
Why here
- At the back. At 20 in it is seen over winter heath (10 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to garden phlox 'David' (3½ ft), ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' (2½ ft) and little bluestem 'The Blues' (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 six weeks. From early May to mid June.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 56% of the planted ground. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, winter heath and Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips'. Cool colours (pink, blue and purple) with yellow as the warm note, and white and tan to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 3 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 eastern bee balm goes in a border
At 20 in it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium short (18 to 24 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It stays in a clump and does not get mildew, which answers the two usual complaints about bee balm. The seed heads are decorative into winter.
- Bee balm for small gardens
- Dry part shade
- Early nectar for bees
What to plant with eastern bee balm
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Bluestar: in flower together for five weeks, from mid May; tall enough (3 ft) to stand behind it.
- Prairie dropseed: carries the spot on into mid September.
- Foxglove beardtongue: in flower together for four weeks, from late May; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (3½ ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about eastern bee balm
Does eastern bee balm need sun or shade?
Eastern bee balm 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 ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does eastern bee balm grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °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 eastern bee balm flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early May to mid June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Early May to mid June |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Early May to mid June |
| Zone 7 | Late April to early June |
| Zone 8 | Mid April to early June |
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 eastern bee balm be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 20 in (50 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many eastern bee balm plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 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 eastern bee balm 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 eastern bee balm?
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.
What flowers after eastern bee balm?
Eastern bee balm is over by mid June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
- Yarrow: from mid June to late August, 24 in tall.
What does eastern bee balm look like in winter?
Eastern bee balm 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 eastern bee balm good for bees and butterflies?
Eastern bee balm is visited by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
It is native to the United States.
More Monarda
- Bee balm Monarda didyma
- Bee balm 'Jacob Cline' Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline'
- Bee balm 'Petite Delight' Monarda 'Petite Delight'
- Bee balm 'Purple Rooster' Monarda didyma 'Purple Rooster'
- Bee balm 'Raspberry Wine' Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'
- Spotted bee balm Monarda punctata
- Wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 20 in (50 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium short (18 to 24 in)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early May to mid June; globes; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Comes from
- East Central & East U.S.A
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.