BloomsEye723 / 1,785checked
Bee Balm (Monarda) - red flowers, illustrated plant cardIllustration
Bee Balm cut-out illustration
Illustration

Bee Balm

Monarda

Also called bergamot and wild bergamot

Bee Balm blooms from July through August.

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Bloom calendar
Bloom time
Jul–Aug
checked
Hardiness
Zones 3–9
checked
Sun
Full sun
checked
Water
Moderate water
checked
Mature size
3 ft × 2 ft
checked
Type
Perennial
house classification

Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.

Growing Bee Balm

Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 3–9. Expect it to reach about 3 ft tall and 2 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 2 years (checked).

No toxicity note is on file for Bee Balm. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.

Verification
Full record checked
What was checked

Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant, with what the sources could not settle written down; years to mature size rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one, and is marked so; its common name and alternate names have not been checked yet. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.

See the 23 sources it was checked against

When to plant Bee Balm

Plant Bee Balm in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 6, the middle of its hardy zones 3 to 9, spring means March to May and fall means August or September. Once settled, it blooms from July to August.

Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 6, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 6 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.

How big does Bee Balm get?

Illustration of Bee Balm drawn to scale beside an adult3 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult2 ftwide
About 3 ft tall and 2 ft wide at maturity: waist-high beside an adult.

See Bee Balm in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.

How far apart to plant Bee Balm

Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.

Space Bee Balm about 2 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.

Plant them
2 ft apart
Per 10 sq ft
about 3
4 by 8 ft bed
about 8

Add Bee Balm to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.

Where these facts come from

Bee Balm's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, years to mature size, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 23 published sources on August 3, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.

How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.

Comes in 12 varieties across 4 colors

Same genus, similar care - pick the color you are growing.

Compare every variety in the Bee Balm group

Every figure is the variety's own page fact. Tap a name to open it.

VarietyColorBloomsHardinessSunSize (H × W)
Beethis pageRedJul–AugZones 3–9Full sun3 ft × 2 ft
Claire GracePurpleJun–SepZones 3–9Full sun3 ft × 2 ft
Gardenview ScarletRedJul–AugZones 4–9Full sun3 ft × 2 ft
Grand MarshallPurpleJul–AugZones 3–8Full sun20 in × 24 in
Jacob ClineRedJul–SepZones 3–9Full sun4 ft × 3 ft
Marshall's DelightPinkJul–SepZones 3–9Full sun3 ft × 2 ft
Pardon My CeriseRedJul–SepZones 3–9Full sun12 in × 12 in
Pardon My PurplePurpleJul–SepZones 3–9Full sun12 in × 12 in
Purple RoosterPurpleJul–SepZones 3–9Full sun3 ft × 2 ft
Raspberry WineRedJul–SepZones 3–9Full sun3.5 ft × 2.5 ft
Rockin' RaspberryPurpleJul–SepZones 3–9Full sun24 in × 20 in
Snow WhiteWhiteJul–SepZones 3–9Full sun3 ft × 2 ft
Sugar Buzz Cherry PopsRedJul–AugZones 4–8Full sun20 in × 20 in

Good to know about Bee Balm

Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note. A note reports what its source says; where that differs from a fact above, the fact above is this entry's stored value, and its mark says whether it has been checked.

Worth knowing

Its minty scent and its herbal-tea history come from the same aromatic oils, thymol and carvacrol. Scarlet bee balm is the original 'Oswego tea' plant. per NC State

Watering splits by species

Scarlet bee balm wants steady moisture; wild bergamot prefers lean, dry ground. Identify yours first and water to match, but never bake either one bone-dry. per NC State

Is wild bergamot mildew-proof?

It resists mildew on dry, airy sites, but a four-year trial rated the straight species among the most susceptible in a moist bed. Pick a proven cultivar. per Chicago Botanic Garden

Resistant cultivars matter most

In a four-year no-fungicide trial, 'Marshall's Delight' stayed under 5 percent mildew; 'Colrain Red' and 'Raspberry Wine' also held up. Clemson adds 'Jacob Cline'. per Chicago Botanic Garden

Spreads; divide every few years

It creeps outward by rhizomes and dies out in the center. Lift and divide every few years to curb the spread and renew the clump at once. per NC State

Magnet for pollinators

The nectar-rich tubular flowers draw bumblebees and other long-tongued bees, hummingbirds, butterflies and moths; wild bergamot also feeds specialist native bees. per NC State

Deer and rabbit resistant

Deer and rabbits leave it alone: the aromatic, oily foliage is unpalatable to browsers. per NC State

What pairs well with Bee Balm

Good companions share its growing conditions and add something it lacks: an earlier or later bloom, a lower carpet in front, or structure through winter.

  • Ninebark

    Ninebark

    Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in late spring, before this one opens; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; taller at 6.5 ft, for the layer behind it.

  • Weigela

    Weigela

    Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in late spring, before this one opens; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; taller at 5 ft, for the layer behind it.

  • Mock Orange

    Mock Orange

    Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in late spring, before this one opens; both offer pollinator forage, in different months; taller at 8 ft, for the layer behind it.

  • Eastern Redbud

    Eastern Redbud

    Takes full sun to part sun and moderate water; blooms in mid spring, before this one opens; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; stands well above at 23 ft, a canopy to plant beneath.

  • Flowering Crabapple

    Flowering Crabapple

    Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in mid spring, before this one opens; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; stands well above at 20 ft, a canopy to plant beneath.

  • Wisteria

    Wisteria

    Shares full sun and moderate water; blooms in mid spring, before this one opens; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months.

  • False Indigo

    False Indigo

    Shares full sun and low to moderate water; blooms in late spring, before this one opens; both are strong pollinator plants, and they feed in different months; its seed heads stand through winter, for structure and the birds; this one spreads, so it will crowd its neighbor in time.

  • Snow-in-Summer

    Snow-in-Summer

    Shares full sun and low to moderate water; blooms in late spring, before this one opens; evergreen, so the bed keeps its shape through winter; lower at 6 in, for the front of the border.

All 8 companion pairings for Bee Balm →

Try Bee Balm with its top companions in a garden →

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