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Wild bergamot, Monarda fistulosa
Wild bergamot's fragrant lavender-coloured flowers bloom between July and September and are a bee magnet! The plant is easy to grow and reaches 60 cm to 1.20 m.
A culinary treat:
Wild bergamot is in the mint family; its square stem gives it away. The leaves and flowers are edible and can be used fresh or dried. The leaves contain the essential oil thymol and taste similar to oregano and thyme, making them fantastic combined with tomatoes. Indigenous peoples have used the leaves to treat colds and headaches as teas, baths, and inhalations. The leaves are best harvested young, before the plant flowers.
Ecology:
Wild bergamot is buzzing with activity throughout the day because the plant replenishes its nectar by opening new flowers throughout the day. It is a favourite of bumble bees. Its pollen supports the monarda pollen specialist bee, who can only use bergamot pollen to provision her brood cells with bee bread made from monarda pollen, her saliva and nectar. Wild bergamot is also a larval host plant for moths in their caterpillar stage. Besides bees, its tubular flowers attract hummingbirds, the hummingbird clearwing moth, butterflies, and predatory soldier beetles, a beneficial insect that eats aphids, different larvae and eggs. The huge amounts of seeds feed songbirds in winter.
Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa
60 cm -
1.20 m
great pollinator edible sun - part sun host plant fragrant any soil type pollen specialist salt-tolerant dry to medium-wet bird seed easy to grow .
Growing conditions:
Wild bergamot grows best in full sun but can also grow in partial sun. It is very adaptable to soil (sand to clay) and moisture conditions (medium-wet to dry), but thrives best in neutral to basic limestone soil. To avoid mildew, the plant needs a sunny spot with good airflow and should not be crowded. Mildew on bergamot leaves is hard to avoid at the end of the season, but it really doesn't harm the plant.
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Garden symphony:
Butterfly milkweed, golden Alexander, Virginia mountain mint, hoary vervain, black-eyed Susan, stiff goldenrod, foxglove beardtongue, meadow blazing star, pearly everlasting, Ohio spiderwort and rough blazing star all look good with wild bergamot.