Monarda didyma

By Rachel Palmer General Informaon

• Family: Lamiaceae • Scienfic name: Monarda didyma • Common name: Bee Balm, Scarlet Bee Balm, Oswego Tea • Herbaceous perennial • Hardiness: USDA Zones 4-8 • Nave to eastern U.S. Distribuon

Present in all states shown in green; Also nave to all states shown in green. Locaon

• Habitat: wooded stream banks, moist hardwood forests, meadows, mountains up to 6500 • Has escaped culvaon and established itself in northeast U.S. Appearance • Habit: Upright, spreading, clump-forming • Height: 2-4’, can grow up to 6’ • Roots: Rhizomatous, fibrous • Stem: Square, each bears one bloom • Leaves: Opposite, 2-6 inches long, 1/3 as wide, ovate-acuminate with toothed margins • Flowers: Each 2-4” bloom is a whorled cluster of individual long, tubular flowers with colored bracts below • Bloom me: May-October depending on region – Midsummer through fall in northeast – Late spring through early summer in southeast hp://www.abnaveplants.com/_ccLib/ image/plants/DETA-63.jpg

• hp://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ regions/southern/SosebeeCove/ images/monarda_didyma_lg.jpg

hp://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/photos/ bee_balm2.jpg Culture

• Light: Full sun/part shade – Tolerates up to full shade but will not bloom as much as plants in the sun • Water: Not drought tolerant; likes soil that doesn’t dry completely • Soil: Likes soil that is rich in organic maer, acidic (pH <6.8) • Cold tolerant Uses

• Flower gardens • Aract hummingbirds, buerflies, bumblebees • Used by Nave Americans for tea; sll somemes used in Earl Grey tea • Medicinal purposes; indigeson Culvars

‘Jacob Kline’

‘Purple Rooster’

‘Fireball’ ‘Marshal’s Delight’ hp://www.daytonnursery.com/encyclopedia/Images/ hp://www.daytonnursery.com/encyclopedia/ Perennials/Monarda_Fireball_web.jpg hp://www.daytonnursery.com/encyclopedia/Images/ Images/Monarda%20Purple%20Rooster Perennials/Monarda%20'Marshall's%20Delight'.JPG %20WG.jpg ‘Panorama Red’ ‘Pete Wonder’

‘Blue Stocking’

hp://www.daytonnursery.com/encyclopedia/Images/ Perennials/Monarda_Pete_Wonder_2.jpg

• Some culvars are hybrids with M. fitulosa, wild bergamot. hp://www.chicagobotanic.org/downloads/planteval_notes/no12_monarda.pdf Crop Ideotype

• Long bloom me • Bright colors • Showy flowers • Powdery mildew resistant • Shorter me to flowering than current variees • Not too aggressive • Improved germinaon rates Propagaon

• Division of root clumps in spring before new growth begins • Stem cungs in late spring • Seeds mature 1-3 weeks aer flowering – Bend stem over, tap seed heads – If seeds fall out easily, they are mature – 5-8 days to germ at 21-22C, light required Experiment 1: Propagaon by Seed

• Propagated Panorama Red Shades by seed – Sowed 100 seeds in 128 plug tray, covered lightly with vermiculite – Germ aer 1 week: 62 (62%) – Germ aer 2 weeks: 84 (84%) – Yield potenal: 70 (70% of seeds sown, 83.33% of seeds germinated) Experiment 2: Propagaon by Cungs

• Two variees – Medium Size Pink – Umore • Two different growing media – Rockwool – Sand • Four roong treatments – Control – Talc – 1000ppm IBA in talc – 1000ppm IBA in 50% EtOH Experiment 2: Propagaon by Cungs % Rooted Cungs vs. # of Weeks 100 90 80 70 60 50 Medium size pink 40 Umore 30 20 10 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Experiment 2: Propagaon by Cungs % Rooted Cungs vs. # of Weeks 100 90 80 70 60 50 Sand 40 Rockwool 30 20 10 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Experiment 2: Propagaon by Cungs % Rooted Cungs vs. # of Weeks 100 90 80 70 Control 60 Talc 50 40 1000ppm IBA in talc 30 1000ppm IBA in 50% 20 EtOH 10 0 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Experiment 2: Propagaon by Cungs

• Conclusion – Umore roots more easily than Medium size pink – Sand works beer than rockwool – 1000ppm IBA produces equal ending results in talc or 50% EtOH, but roots produced earlier when carrier is talc Market Niche

• Target sale dates: April-July • Competors: Other tall herbaceous perennials • Appeal: Large showy flowers, aromac, aracts buerflies and hummingbirds • M. didyma is already widely available to the consumer market Producon • Temperature: 13-16C day/10-13C night – Vernalizaon required for flowering • Light: Long day plants (14 hours light for flower iniaon), 3000-5000 foot-candles • Nutrion: High ferlizaon required – 150-200ppm N from 15:0:15 every other irrigaon – Avoid high ammonium levels • Soil: Well-drained medium • PGRs: None needed • Container: Sow in 288 or 128 plug tray, transplant into 4-6” pot • Diseases – Root rot: control by not overwatering – Botrys: control by fungicide – Powdery mildew: control by fungicide, avoid overcrowding • Deadhead to prolong flowering Producon Schedule • Stage I: 2-3 days • Stage III: 14-21 days – 20-22C – 16-18C – Moist soil; avoid saturaon – Allow soil to dry completely between – Light required for germinaon; 100-400 waterings to promote root growth and foot-candles control height – pH 5.5-5.8, EC <0.75mmhos/cm – Gradually increase light intensity; – Keep ammonium levels <10ppm 1000-1500 foot-candles – Increase ferlizaon to 100-150ppm N • Stage II: 3-5 days from 20:10:20 – 18-21C – Maintain pH 5.5-5.8, EC <0.75mmhos/ – Reduce moisture slightly; allow soil to cm dry between waterings – Use DIF when possible – Gradually increase light intensity; • Stage IV: 7 days 500-1000 foot-candles – – Ferlize with 50-75ppm N from 14:0:14 13-16C – – Maintain pH 5.5-5.8, EC <0.75mmhos/ Allow soil to dry completely between cm waterings – Gradually increase light intensity; 1500-2500 foot-candles – Maintain pH 5.5-5.8, EC <0,75mmhos/ cm – Ferlize with 100-150ppm N from 14:0:14 Producon Schedule

• Growing On - Flowering: 9-11 months – Vernalizaon required for flowering; 9 weeks below 7°C – 4-6” pots – Day temperature 13-16C – Night temperature 10-13C – 3000-5000 foot-candles – Well-drained soilless media – pH 5.5-6.2, EC 1.0mmhos/cm – Ferlize with 150-200ppm N from 15:0:15 every other irrigaon – Flower iniaon occurs in spring aer ~10 weeks at 13-16C day temperatures and long days (14+ hours) Producon Schedule Recap

• Time to cotyledon emergence: 5-8 days • Total plug me: 26-36 days (about 4-5 weeks) • Time to sale as “green” crop (no flowers): 8-10 weeks • Time to sale as flowering crop: 10-12 months • Veg producon will depend on stock plant – Cung from plant that has already had vernalizaon: 8-10 weeks – Cung from plant that has not had vernalizaon: 10-12 months Possible Improvements

• Breed for type that does not require vernalizaon • Improved yield of cungs • Improved germinaon and yield potenal Literature Cited

“Bee Balm.” Illinois Wildflowers. Accessed April 28 2010.

“Grower Facts: Monarda didyma Panorama Red Shade.” 2010. Ball Horcultural Company. Accessed April 28 2010.

Hawke, Richard G. “Plant Evaluaon Notes: Monarda and Powdery Mildew Resistance.” May 1998. Chicago Botanic Garden. Accessed April 28 2010.

“Monarda didyma.” June 30 2007. Floridata. Accessed April 28 2010.

“Monarda didyma.” April 2010. Mansfield’s World Database of Agricultural and Horcultural Crops. Accessed April 28 2010.

“Monarda didyma L.” February 1 2009. Nave Plants Database. Larry Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Accessed April 28 2010.

“Monarda didyma L. Scarlet Beebalm.” April 2010. USDA Plants Database. Accessed April 28 2010.

“’Panorama Red Shades’.” Benary. Accessed April 28 2010.

Plion, Paul. “Monarda didyma ‘Pink Lace’.” July 2008. Greenhouse Product News. Accessed April 28 2010.