Grow Bee Balm Flowers for Late Summer Blooms

The Bee Balm flower a native perennial in North America is commonly called horsemint, Monarda, and wild bergamot. This plant is in the mint family and has a unique white, pink, purple or red flower that blooms in mid to late summer.

The entire bee balm plant is very fragrant, the leaves, stems, and flowers have a mint/oregano aroma. So if you enjoy fragrant flowers then I would recommend that you grow bee balm close to your outdoor living space.

I have red and purple bee balm growing close to my garden path and flagstone patio. Butterflies and hummingbirds find the bee balm to be attractive and we enjoy watching the wildlife.

Here are some photographs of bee balm

 flowers that grow in the garden.

The bee balm in this photo has powdery mildew 

due to excessive rain in June.

Bee balm growing wild in a field

My bee balm flowers bloom at the end of June and continue to bloom through August provided I deadhead all spent blooms. In late summer I will not deadhead because the seed heads provide a source of food for the sparrows and finches during the fall to the winter season.

Bee Balm Growing Tips

1. Grow from seed, cuttings, and root divisions.
2. Plant in spring or in late summer / early fall
3. Choose a planting area that has ample area for this plant to grow and spread. Grow plants 20 inches apart in loamy soil that is slightly acidic. Soil should be moist but well-drained.
4. Plant in full sun, however, this plant will tolerate part sun in the late afternoon as long as it has six hours of direct sun daily.
5. Grow bee balm in an area that has good air circulation. Avoid planting next to a wall or a wooden fence as these structures will prevent proper airflow and powdery mildew will form on leaves and stems. Excessive watering will also cause powdery mildew.
6. Water plants to prevent soil from drying out.
7. The bee balm is hardy in the USA growing zone 3.4.5,6,7,8,9

Care and Maintenance

1. Fertilize in the spring and weekly with a bloom booster flower food. I use Miracle-Gro a water-soluble weekly throughout the blooming season.
2. Apply a layer of mulch around the stem to help to retain moisture and to prevent weed growth.
3. Water plants to prevent soil from drying out. Soil that is moist but well-drained is best.
4. After a hard frost cut back the flower stems to 2 inches above the soil. (or leave seed heads throughout winter for the birds.
5. In spring when plants start to grow check your plants for overcrowding. Divide and transplant when needed or every two years.
6. If not maintained in your garden this plant can become invasive.

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Maintaining Yard and Gardens in September

Maintaining and manicuring the yard and gardens in September will enable you to have a beautiful landscape throughout the cold season. 

 Today my husband and I took advantage of the good weather and spent the morning outdoors in they yard.  We worked together to create a lovely landscape and cleaned up the  patio by getting the firepit ready for sitting by the fire on cool fall nights. 

We both worked at cleaning up the sand set flagstone patio, I removed the weeds that were growing between the stone and husband put down new drainage rock around the firepit.  When the patio was completed I moved on to my next garden project.

  

 I dead headed all of the spent flowers, trimmed back the coneflowers and zinnia that started to turn brown from those few nights of low 40's temperature.  Harvested the seeds by putting seeds in Ziploc bag and  then covered the garden bed with cedar mulch.

When all of the seeds were harvested I moved on to trimming back the grass garden because they were overgrown and covered the garden path.  There was enough time to spot check the irises and to pull the weeds and grass that was growing in the bed.  

While I worked on the gardens my husband cut the grass and used the blower to remove the leaves from patios, paths and driveway.  It was a great day to work in the garden, Husband and I accomplished so much and our  September yard and garden looks beautiful.

Here are some photographs of my gardens, patio paths.

End of season shade garden

September blooms of Sweet Autumn Clematis

Updated patio and firepit for Fall usage, firepit and patio designed by Sgolis

Pea Gravel garden path, designed and installed by Sgolis

Removing Leaves from Spring Flower Gardens

Removing leaves from my yard and gardens is a two season project; in the fall and then again in April. Not all of my oak trees lose their leaves and this year the leaves did not fall until the new leaf buds started to appear in late March. Come the first week of April I have leave in my flower gardens.

In the fall the city will remove our leaves when we put them at the curb. They will then turn the leaves into mulch. However in the spring leaves are not needed for mulch and today I found out that there is a fee for spring leaf pickup so we are going to rake and put them in lawn bags for trash pickup.

Know that I reside in the woods so keeping all of the leaves for compost recycling is not wise. I will keep only small amount of leaves for my compost but the other leaves must be removed as they harbor borer insects that will eat the tubers of the irises, dried leaves are also are good nesting ground for ticks, fleas and snakes.

Along with the removal of leaves from the flower gardens I am also removing the mulch because it will enable the new spring flowers to emerge from their sleep without difficulty. I use a rubber rake or my hands to gently remove the leaves and the mulch from the flower gardens without disturbing the plants underneath.

Gardening tips by Susan:

1. Late spring or early summer is the best time to apply the mulch as it will help to retain moisture.
2. If you used leaf mulch then add all leaves except oak to your compost pile. Oak leaves attract mites and other bad for the garden insects that are harmful to your plants.
3. If you have oak leaves I would recommend that your burn them or bag them for trash disposal.