The detailed small spots on this bee balm are so beautiful. Excellent addition to a perennial pollinator paradise. Deer Resistant!
From Prairie Moon Nursery:
Spotted Bee Balm (also called Dotted Mint or Dotted Horsemint) prefers sandy soils and full to part sun. This Monarda is more tolerant of drought and intense sun than most in the genera. Monarda punctata is usually found in sand prairies, hill prairies, and Oak savannas.
It is an eccentric beauty in form and color with complex blossoms topping 2’ stems in hues of pinkish-purple, green, beige, and maroon. These blossoms attract honeybees, bumblebees, and many butterflies, including Karner Blue butterfly. Spotted Bee Balm is also one of the host plants for the Raspberry pyrausta butterfly. The scent of this plant is repugnant to mammalian herbivores so is rarely consumed by them.
Image Credit: Kate Despres
Full – Plants require 6 or more hours of sun during the growing season. Partial – Plants need 3-6 hours of direct sun. Shade – Plants require less than 3 hours of sunlight. “>Sun Exposure: Full, Partial
