Monarda bradburiana – Bradbury’s Bee Balm

A versatile, showy and underused species from the Midwest. Pink to white flowers are attractively spotted in purple. Earlier-blooming and shorter than either of the two Catskill species of Monarda (Oswego Tea, M. didyma and Wild Bergamot, M. fistulosa), it also has glossy, attractive foliage that takes on purplish tinges in the fall. A woodland edge species so it can be grown in part shade as well as full sun. Aromatic foliage can be used in teas, with a flavor similar to its congener, Wild Bergamot. Bees, butterflies, hummingbird moths and hummingbirds all visit the flowers for nectar.