powdery mildew is a function of spending the night with wet foliage .... one cause is sprinklers too late at night [change your program] ... and as noted .. you personally watering in the evening, wetting the whole plant ... which used to be my favorite after work tradition ... also stagnant air decreases drying ... so .. insure the leaves are dry by evening ... and increase air movement [location.. location.. location ].. and you should avoid that problem ... and always look for versions that are resistant ... if any ... in general.. 8 hours of sun is considered full sun .... if that 8 hours is from 6am to 2 pm .. then guess what.. the rest of the day it is in... ta da .. part shade ... some plants.. not many .. need full sun.. all day long ... they would be full sun [think food production plants for optimum performance]... also perhaps.. those like monarda ... they need the drying effects of the sun also .... otherwise ... most plants ... have a lot of leeway on how much sun they need ... but the bottom line is.. when a flowering plant .... no longer flowers ... then it is in too much shade... it puts out more and more green with chlorophyll to compensate for the lack of light.. sacrificing flowers ... and you would probably be surprised how dark that grotto would have to be ... think cave .... listen.. its a near bullet proof plant.. that will 'run' all over the yard ... plant one.. and enjoy it.. until it irritates you.. and you start pulling it out... i doubt you can find the wrong place for this one.. short of the cave .... or where its leaves stay to wet ... and even that will only make it ugly.. but not really impact the flowering ... good luck ken ps: as to PM .... same with lilac and roses ... no wet leaves at dusk ...

echinaceamaniac wrote: I picture someone like Johnny Appleseed running around planting the Wild Bergamot in someone else's yard and getting angry when they weed whack it. Thank's for that mental image. I needed to laugh today! You're welcome. :) And I don't know whether Ken has discovered the wild bergamot that I planted in his yard yet. LOL. ---------------------------- summersunshine wrote: I would rather see native plants growing vigorously and fighting off the true weeds (non-natives like dandelions and garlic mustard). Amen to that! ---------------------------- terrene wrote: The Monarda will probably recover just fine after one accidental weed whacking. Although since you just transplanted it, AND it got whacked, that is a double whammy so the plants may recover quite slowly or even die if it's very dry and they don't get water. Thanks for the helpful info. Yes, I'll try to make sure it gets plenty of water.

Hi! I notice most of this thread is 9 years old and i wonder if you folks are still here, reading this discussion makes me happy. I was researching if i could transplant iris, black eyed Susan, bergamot, and coneflowers into my damp sunny front yard violet patch and expect them to thrive, and I'm going to try it! @Hu of 5 months ago, that would be really pretty, columbine with violets. IDK if it would work but I will try it too after the hardy stuff establishes! My goal is to make a privacy screen so I feel less exposed in my front yard. I want it dense with always something blooming. Right now I have a big forsythia on one end, hollies on the other, and a 100yo rose bush in the middle. I want to be able to put a hammock between the apple trees without my neighbors leering at me. Zone 6 NE KY!

Welcome! To answer your questions: -- yes, it is super easy to grow. I had mine in shady, moist soil and it thrived. I've seen it colonize the edges of a dry dusty alley and thrive. In fact, it's kinda hard to discourage. -- It's an annual in this climate, so the plants die off in the winter. But it self-sows very readily, and it grows fast from seed to flowering plant. -- It's a wild plant originally, and is pretty common on the edges of woods. But it's also been hybridized and cross bred, and you can find it in garden centers as "impatiens balsamina" (the botanical Latin) or the common name, "Touch-me-not". (It got that name because the ripe seed pods sort of explode when you touch them, spraying the seeds a couple of feet.) I think the original is usually shades of yellow and orange, and has coarser foliage, while the garden version seem to be usually cooler colors from lavender to purple red to pink and white, with a much more tame look. Wild jewelweed: Touch-me-nots: Hope that helps! Here is a link that might be useful: Using jewelweed