Bee Balm has to be one of my favorite plants. The purple variety is nice, but the Red (Monarda didyma) simply takes my breath away. I love it paired with lavender…I am actually planting a huge swath of the pair this year in my own garden. This plant in a native to Pennsylvania and most eastern United States. It is also known a bergamot and has been used extensively through history for medicinal purposes.

Fellow Bostonians — you might find it interesting to know that Oswego Tea (which is made with Bee Balm) comes from the Oswego Indians who taught the immigrants how to use it for tea after the Boston tea party in 1773. A fun fact to prove your yankee chops.

1. Rosetta McClain Gardens- Monarda and Rudbeckia, 2. Monarda in our garden today., 3. Monarda didyma (Bee Balm) Lamiaceae, 4. End of the Monarda 1, 5. Monarda, 6. Monarda didyma, 7. Monarda Didyma ‘Cambridge scarlet’, 8. Monarda,Bee Balm, Osewgo Tea, Horsemint., 9. Crimson Bee Balm, Monarda 195_9568, 10. Monarda at the zoo pond.