deadheading bee balm

[jsmom]

I have quite a few bee balm plants. My question is when do I deadhead the blooms and will they produce more flowers when I do it. Also, when do I cut them down to the ground.

[rainbowgardener]

I don't do anything to mine. Earlier in the season if you cut it back, it will branch out to be bushier. You can cut off the spent blooms, but it will make more either way. I don't cut it back either, unless it is getting powdery mildew, which mine is kind of prone to. But it is very tough and hardy and cutting it back certainly won't hurt it.

[microcollie]

I have monarda in my "cutting garden" and cut them as soon as they bloom. They keep on reblooming until frost. Those that I don't cut are often a little more sluggish, as they're expending energy on seed production. Then I don't cut it to the ground until a hard frost has killed it. (But by then I'm normally so depressed that winter's coming, that I often don't go out to that garden until spring). It's one of those tough-as-nails plants that can take almost anything, except for powdery mildew.