Re: Monarda

Monarda is one of those hate/love plants.  For those that can grow it well and have no more than tolerable problems with mildew love them.  But for those that have tried it and  have nothing to show for it but  white leaves and empty stems they hate it. This is one of those plants that does better in the north than in the south.

Monarda is  going to do best in moisture retentive soils, dry soils and humid air do not make for good conditions for these plants- but that said-  there are a few nice forms out there that are more resistant to mildew.  Some of the best have already been named:

Monarda 'Raspberry Wine':

Plants grow 3.5  to 4.5  feet tall and produce showy bright wine red flowers. The foliage medium dark green  with a bit of a shine to them. The  stems are  very thick  and square resulting in very sturdy- upright plants that have a high degree of mildew resistantance . Plants grow into nice large clumps ( 3-5 feet wide) with  many flowers produced in mid summer. Deadheading will produce a good flush or reblooming, with flowers produced fro new branches grown fro the nodes along the stems.  Loved by Hummingbirds.  Divide every three years. Use in light shade in moisture retentive soils, nice cut flowers too,  the flowers are very large and well shaped. a good choice for those that want to grow Monarda but have had problems in the past - I  give my a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day and have been very pleased with them and have not had any mildew problems-even very late in the year.


Monarda 'Jacob Cline':

Large bright red flowers on top of 4 to 5 foot tall stems, very mildew resistant. The foliage is a lighter green than ‘Raspberry Wine' and they bloom a little bit sooner.  But nice large bright scarlet red flowers, some up to 5 inches wide.  The clumps are strong growing and they produce upright sturdy stems.  My clumps have had a nice roundish shape with rounded tops that are uniformly covered in flowers. Very little mildew- even in dry soils for me. A nice bright red for the garden, in the south give it some shade during the hottest part of the day.


I am always on the look out for other Monarda, I will not list some of my favs but here are few that are new.

Monarda 'Claire Grace':

Bright soft lavender flowers on 3 to 4 foot tall stems, mildew resistant. This was y first year with this plant and it has not bloomed yet for me- so can not say to much about the flowers.  The stems are not as sturdy as the two listed above and after our first hard freeze the leaves did develop mildew.  But not during the growing season- they are planted in a dry location so the combination of hard frost and prolonged dry fall/winter has produced white leaves.  But I will now a lot ore next year.

Here is a list of others that are reported to be mildew resistant, this does not mean they will not get mildew but that they are lest likely to under normal growing conditions:


‘Aquarius' - Violet-pink with bronze-green foliage 48 inches tall.
‘Cambridge Scarlet' - bright red flowers, early blooming, three feet tall.
‘Colrain Red' - Red  flowers with a touch of yellow?  Three feet tall.
‘Comanche' - rosy-red flowers 50 inches tall.
‘Garden view Scarlet' - dark red with large flowers.
‘Fishes' - soft pink flowers with open green centers, 48 inches tall. A spreader.
‘Marshall's Delight' - bright- clear pink, 36 inches tall.
‘Ou Charm' - soft pink flowers, 32 inches tall.
‘Scorpion' - purple flowers, fast spreading,  40 inches tall.
‘Violet Queen' - dark violet-lilac, grows 36 inches tall.


The subject of short growing Monarda was also raised and here is a list of those: all of the plants listed below have thick stiff leaves and its' my guess that they are some type of polyploid.

‘Petite Delight' - Plants have good sized bright rosy- pink flowers on 12-15 inch tall stems, the foliage is dark green.  Plants are not strong growers so pamper them the first year or two.  Mildew resistant..

‘Petite Wonder' - plants have good solid flowers of a bright pink color on top of 9 to 10 inch tall stems.  Mildew resistance.

‘Petite Pink Supreme' - 12-16 inches tall with cerise-pink flowers- large leaves for such a small plants.

‘Petite Red Supreme' - 12-16 inches tall with large red flowers.

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