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cher68
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Location: Central Indiana

Weed or flower?

This has voluntarily came up and early on in the summer I think I sprayed weed killer on it as it looked weed like to me. Obviously it survived very well and now has some kind of blooms on it.
I don't recognize it and have no clue what it is. I have only recently moved in here a few months ago and have no idea what was planted here in the past but there are a lot of plants and I'd be suprised if this wasn't one of them. Its in a very shaded area behind a large shrub.
Image

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Thanks for looking. :)

valley
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I like it, let's call it a flower.

southjersey
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It looks like bee balm (also known as Monarda).

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rainbowgardener
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Oh ouch! You sprayed weed killer on your bee balm. Fortunately it survived. Besides bees, butterflies and hummingbirds like it and the leaves are good in herbal tea blends. One of my favorites!

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cher68
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I wondered about bee balm. But it didn't look just like the ones I'd seen pics of online.

I will not spray weed killer on it anymore. haha I may however try to seperate some of it as it is in a lousy location.
Does it like shade? It doesn't get much sun where it is at now.

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rainbowgardener
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No, doesn't like shade. Likes full sun, tolerates part sun.

The classic bee balm is fire engine red, but these days they come in lots of reds and pinks and white. Yours is an aging flower that will soon be spent and has already lost a lot of its florets. Cut the aging flowers off, if you want it to keep blooming. If you move it, especially in heat of summer, be sure it stays well watered until it has rooted in to its new location.

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cher68
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red would be lovely but purple works too. :)
How would I go about dividing or taking some of the plant and moving it to a new area maybe closer to my garden to attract more bees possibly.

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rainbowgardener
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Very easy. Just dig the whole plant up. With a knife split the root mass in to pieces, just being sure to leave 2-3 stems in each piece. Plant the pieces back where you want them and keep them well watered until they are rooted in.

Susan W
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Ah yes the bee balms! Sun, part shade, especially afternoon. They are succeptable to powdery mildew. In doing a quick search, looks like dividing in spring your best option

Monarda, bergamot, bee balm, horse mint, oswego tea are common names. There are several native species, well 3 main ones that I have found. The blooms are magnets for bees/butterflies, and all used by Natives for teas, cooking and medicinally. When looking at seeds that would be appropriate for either native plants or intro for 18th c gardens, this one shot to the top for native category. In brief

Monarda fistuloas aka wild bergamot, lavender blooms. This looks like the surprise plant on your property.

Monarda didyma aka Oswego tea, horsemint. Red blooms.

Monarda citriodora aka Lemon bee balm. Annual, lavender blooms. Even though this is an annual, should self seed and make a nice patch of plants.

The lavender and red similar in growth and leaves. The annual lemon bee balm has a more narrow smaller leaf. Also the bloom is not one flower head, but a series on the stem kinda like a torch.

FWIW, the annual one germinates readily, grows out fine and blooms. I start in peat pellets, then move to 4" pots, then to the ground (or sell!) The lavender 'wild bergamot' germinates fairly easily, and again moved up to bigger pots. The red, Oswego tea, is less cooperative.

As a side note, there are several cultivars now, selected for color, mildew resistance and other factors.



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