Re: Monarda

In a message dated 8/28/01 1:58:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
bhayes@catskill.net writes:

<< I've heard about monarda taking over, but I've had trouble keeping it
 going.  And it never so far has spread.  I realize to some this is like
 hearing some say they don't have a dandelion problem >>

Isabelle,

You are near me, I think, Upstate NY?  Monarda is a native of watery meadows 
and damp places.  It will not thrive and be beautiful in dry, poor soil.

First select a cultivar that is mildew proof.  The older cvs were bare stems 
by midsummer.  Marshall's Delight is a safe pink with a fuller flower than 
most.  At least a dozen more are mildew resistant.

Establish the clump with humus amended soil and water in well the first year. 
 Use water soluble fertilizer the next spring and it should go along and be 
OK for you.  A great many plants will do well in a growing season they like 
and just hang about in one that does not suit them.  Hence, you will not 
always have a beautiful specimen of each perennial each year.

Slight shade is OK for Monarda but it does need water to establish.  It seems 
to me that running around and being a pest has been common knowledge for 
years but the more hybridized and compact growing new cultivars do not seem 
to do that.  I have four different cvs in my garden and none of them are 
pests.

Claire Peplowski
NYS z4 

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