monarda.. is the base flavor of earl grey tea ... if i am not mistaken ...

it should be listed either place ... or both ...

but i doubt you are going to find specific named varieties.. if you are basically shopping bigboxstore ... you are going to have to widen your options ..

good luck

ken

I beg to differ, ken. I bought M. Raspberry at my local bigbox store, Lowes, last year. It will be in the perennials section along with many other perennials that will be present in at least a few different named varities.

no need to differ ...

my inartfully worded response was intended to say ..

hope for the best .. at BBStore

but if your world is going to end if you dont get it.. then go get it [which usually meant mail order] .. rather than hoping it shows up ...

in my garden life .... there are bazillions of things i HAVE HAD TO HAVE ... and they NEVER show up at bogboxstore ...

is that any clearer?? .. doubt it.. lol

ken

I bought a single Raspberry Wine monarda last year at a local greenhouse. This year it is an 18 inch or so wide clump. Can't wait to see it bloom. Fast spreader apparently, since I didn't get around to plant it until August. I just hope it's powdery mildew resistant like it's claimed to be. Didn't have any while in the pot last year, but we'll see if it remains that way in the ground. Flowers are beautiful.

Karen

I will keep checking at Lowe's, seems like I am there at least twice a week. Lately all they have had is mounding/trailing groundcovers, and like you said the common daylilies and hostas. I know at the stores I shop, sometimes they neglect to water the plants and they look pitiful.

It's good to hear that you found Rasberry Wine at Lowe's, I hope my Lowe's gets this plant.

I did manage to find the Agapanthus I was looking for there, by mistake. They had it by the ornamental grasses, I never would have thought to look there.

I am going to call my local nursery tomorrow and see what they have. It's about 30 miles away!

Thanks everyone!!

Ken, earl gray tea has trace amounts of bergamont oil which comes from a bergamont orange rind. The bergamont orange is not related to the perennial/herb plant.

As Molly pointed out, Bergamont oil comes from a citrus fruit, and is unrelated to the plant. Bee balms are pretty easy to grow if you have sun. The deep red ones seems to spread faster than the other Bee Balms.

Paul

Matts, it's too bad you don't live closer, I would give you a clump. They've developed many cultivars from Monarda didyma, such as Raspberry Wine, and they spread like crazy! It's a very pretty color, and supposed to be mildew-resistent, but mine still get mildew. The hummingbirds just love it.

Thanks Terrene, I will keep looking, I am sure they will turn up somewhere during my travels..

Happy Planting,
Lidia.

"Let your fingers do the walking..."

Check your yellow pages or internet for garden centers near you. Call them and ask if they have... and if they don't, ask if they can order it for you. (then you don't pay shipping, and you get to see the plant - and pick which pot you want. I almost never buy mail order except for really, really specialty plants - like specific daylilies, hosta, lilium, etc where I've never seen my choice in any garden center... and I check out every garden center I see, even when travelling or visiting friends around the country... well, not to get sidetracked, I used to shop Bluestone because of the great bargains, but not any more).

I've discovered that for many perennials there is not a huge difference in cost between independent garden centers and Big Box...

Also, many independent garden centers order plants every week or two based on the availability list from their suppliers. They may need to order in quantities of 10 or 25, but since they were going to order some variety of Bee Balm anyway, they're happy to order the variety you want, even if you only want one. Good garden centers will even call you when they come in, but I never count on that - things get busy and they forget... so if they offer you hope, just call back every week or so.

Raspberry Wine is a really great color - I love the vibrant things!

Beth
Z5 northern MI

Just be careful what you wish for....lol. Here is what 3 tiny M Raspberry Wine plants from Bluestone did in their second year. Spread to cover at least a 6ft area in this 10 foot diameter bed.

{{gwi:204733}}

well thank god i wasnt dreaming ... check out the link

wherein one link says:

Monarda didyma (bergamot, scarlet beebalm, scarlet monarda, Oswego tea, or crimson beebalm) is an aromatic herb

==>> is there a difference that one has an A .. and the other an E ... [wouldnt be surprised if its not a british version of the spelling]

what i hoot.. this is a great example of knowledge predating the WWW .... and if there are two version of bergamot.. or bergemot .. so be it ...

regardless .. monarda still SMELLS LIKE EARLY GREY TEA ...

and can still be seeped into a plain old tea bag.. to make knock off earl grey ...

shudder.. shudder.. the link also reminds me why i left it at the old house.. the mint family .. lol ... and powdery mildew.. and .. whats the upside again .. lol .. oh yeah.. impress peeps with a plant that smells like earl grey ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Wow nice pic Gazania! Yes it does spread like that, but only if it's happy and yours looks very happy. I planted some red Monarda didyma, in the front garden when I first started gardening here, it was one of the plants I brought with me from the previous house. It never thrived out there, it was just too dry in that garden, especially near the road/sidewalk.

When it spreads like that, it's so easy to rip out what you don't want. It's one of the easiest plants to pull out. You can trash what you don't want or give to someone.

northerngirl I do the same, I always have to checkout the garden center. I did call the one nursery we have here yesterday and they did not have it, but they said they had lots of perennials. We kind of live in a rural area, so the choices are limited.

gazania, that is a nice patch of bee balm you have. I love the color and shape of the flowers.

It's also good to know that you can easily pluck out the plants too, echinaceamaniac. I think I read somewhere that you can cut them back and they will grow more bushy.

I had the hardest time finding Raspberry Wine Monarda last year. Several places had it on their list of plants but had either sold out or never got it in. I sure hope mine do as well as Gazania's picture. I think I must have given up on getting it locally and ordered from Bluestone as I recall it being very small last year and didn't do much.

It is as beautiful plant as the gazania's pictures show. Like gazania mentioned, it spreads and I wanted to get out there today and work on pulling some of mine up and transplanting it in pots for an upcoming plant swap or share with some other friends but it was too windy and cold for me to work out there.

If I shovel prune the bee balm, can it be transplanted to another flowerbed? What is exactly the best way to do this? I think somebody wrote that it grows by runners along the ground, and to keep it from spreading so much, take a pot, cut the bottom out and plant the bee balm in that pot in the ground..then it can't grow sideways...any comment on this? Do I have my details correct?

The greenhouse I like to spend my money at has Raspberry Wine again this year, and a few others I wouldn't mind having.

Karen

Pippi, Monarda is easy to transplant - very shallow rooted and not difficults roots. You can dig up chunks kind of like sod.

I have never grown it contained like you describe. If you want to slow it down, you could try planting it in a drier spot with partial sun. It will go crazy with rich moist soil, though, even in partial sun.

I just moved an entire patch of Monarda bradburiana yesterday, started it from seed 4 years ago. It is an earlier blooming Monarda with glossy-ish foliage that doesn't get any mildew. It was getting very little sun in the old spot, but doing okay despite that, so I hope to get better growth and blooms.