Bee Balm: Spotted (Monarda Punctata)

The detailed small spots on this bee balm are so beautiful.  Excellent addition to a perennial pollinator paradise.  Deer Resistant!  

From Prairie Moon Nursery:  

Spotted Bee Balm (also called Dotted Mint or Dotted Horsemint) prefers sandy soils and full to part sun. This Monarda is more tolerant of drought and intense sun than most in the genera. Monarda punctata is usually found in sand prairies, hill prairies, and Oak savannas. 

It is an eccentric beauty in form and color with complex blossoms topping 2’ stems in hues of pinkish-purple, green, beige, and maroon. These blossoms attract honeybees, bumblebees, and many butterflies, including Karner Blue butterfly. Spotted Bee Balm is also one of the host plants for the Raspberry pyrausta butterfly. The scent of this plant is repugnant to mammalian herbivores so is rarely consumed by them.

Image Credit: Kate Despres

***  Most of the new native perennials will say "We have run out of stock for this item or it is out of season" for now, so we don't overpromise. If you would like to purchase one of our native varieties that says this, we urge you to click the "Notify Me when Available" button to get a notification emailed to you when we know we have some available for purchase.  

This is because native plants have different growth habits than the other plants we start under grow lights.  In fact, most of them need a long cold period in the soil before germinating in the spring or summer, or even a year after being sown. Therefore, it is  a bit more challenging to predict when and how many will be ready for pick up in the spring.