Mocknbird,
I think Monarda punctata is an annual or biennial, not a perennial. The few times I have grown it some plants have bloomed the first year then died, while others have apparently overwintered then bloomed the second year (it is possible that the second-year plants were actually seedlings that overwintered as seeds - I'll have to look closer next time). At any rate, I haven't had this plant bloom two years on the same individual plant. Perhaps it is too cold here for it to be perennial and it would be perennial in a different climate, but I get the impression that it isn't really meant to be a perennial.

Acts like a biennial for me. Blooms second yr from seed. I save and sow seed each year. USDA plants database has it listed as annual, biennial, perennial (just to confuse the issue I guess).