Bee balm is the first. It grows two to four feet tall with an open flower head which is a cluster of small tubular flowers. The flowers are an understated lavender or lilac, sometimes with a touch of pink. The flower heads have a spicy, pungent odor that persists even in the driest conditions.
Bee balm grows naturally in meadows, sunny dry woods and on roadside banks. You can plant it in open places that don't get a lot of tending. It doesn't need much water, but it does tend to get powdery mildew on the leaves during times of extreme drought.
In late spring and early summer, bee balm provides nectar for skippers, hunter's butterflies and a buzzing assortment of bees. There are many showy monarda cultivars on the market today, but the old-fashioned bee balm is still a great plant.
Another good wild mint similar to the monardas but with four or five flower heads stacked along the stem is horse mint, also known as mountain mint. Horse mint is a good companion plant to bee balm. It's about the same height as monarda, with similar form.
The horse mint has a unique appearance. The upper leaves near the flower are ash gray. The look like they've been sprinkled with white dust. At a distance, the whitish leaves themselves look almost like flowers. The leaves have a pungent, minty smell when crushed.
The individual horse mint flowers don't look like much, but don't be deceived. It's a wonderful insect plant. The clusters of tiny white flowers are attractive to an array of brightly colored butterflies, including the tiger swallowtail.
The third wild flower in this trio is the passionflower. It's a viny plant with tendrils and a large, exotic, almost weird flower about three inches across. It climbs up over other vegetation. The leaves always look rich, dark green even in the driest weather.
The soft, hollow passionflower fruit is called the maypop. It will pop if you squeeze it. Passion flower can thrive even in a tilled garden if you don't till too deep. Each year it grows up from deep underground stems. All three of these are resistant to deer browsing, an added plus.
For more information on wild flowers, check out the UGA Extension publication, Wildflowers.
Billy Skaggs
Agricultural Agent Hall County Extension Coordinator
734 East Crescent Drive
Gainesville, GA 30501
Phone:(770)531-6988
Fax: (770)531-3994
Email: [email protected]
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