How to Grow Bee Balm

Bee balm, also called wild bergamot, is one of my favorite flowers to grow in my native plant and pollinator garden. I love the way these flowers look and smell. (Most plants are a little minty, though some people compare the scent to incense.)

Blooms come in shades of red, pink, purple, and white. Petals are tubular, which gives the blooms their characteristic spiky appearance. Each little tube is filled with nectar, which means bee balm is a huge hit with hummingbirds and beneficial insects like bees and butterflies.

Like many other wildflowers, these plants are super easy to grow and care for. They're also deer resistant, and did I mention that oil released from crushed bee balm leaves can repel mosquitos?

There are a lot of reasons to grow bee balm in your garden space, so let's look at how you can do just that.

Quick Guide to Growing Bee Balm

• Plant bee balm in the spring or fall, once all chance of frost has passed.
• Place bee balm in a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Improve native soil with compost and coarse sand if needed.
• Give bee balm plants 18 to 24 inches of space to grow to avoid common issues like powdery mildew.
• Bee balm is drought tolerant, but follow the 1 inch of water per week guideline. Avoid getting water on the leaves.
• Deadhead spent flowers to keep your plants productive.
• Enjoy bee balm as a cut flower or toss flowers in salads and desserts.

Types of Bee Balm

Bee balm is a wildflower in the Monarda genus and has over a dozen types native to North America. I recommend looking for a type that's native to your region, and then heck whether the type you want to grow is annual or perennial.

Wild Bergamot

This perennial is the quintessential bee balm, with bright purple flowers and that characteristic spicy fragrance. Plants bloom in their second year after planting.

Spotted Bee Balm

Another perennial, spotted bee balm has pale yellow flowers with purple spots. Its leaves smell like thyme and have traditionally been used in teas. This plant thrives in dry, sandy conditions and is drought tolerant.

Scarlet Bee Balm

I grow this type with its stunning red flowers, which are absolute hummingbird magnets. As you can see in the pictures of my garden, blooms easily reach 4 feet tall.

Lemon Bee Balm

Also called purple horsemint and lemon mint, this type gets its name from its lemony scent. It features gorgeous stacks of lavender flowers (pictured below growing in a wildflower field in Central Texas). It grows well in poor soil and is drought tolerant.

How to Source Bee Balm Plants

If you live near bee balm growing in the wild, you can harvest dried flower heads in the fall for planting. That way, you know you'll be growing a type that does well in your climate.

You can buy bee balm seeds online, and you may be able to source bee balm plants from your local nursery in the spring or summer.

Where to Grow Bee Balm

Here are the main requirements for growing low-maintenance bee balm plants.

Sun

Give your bee balm full sun (at least 6 hours a day) to maximize blooms. Bee balm can handle partial shade, but your plants are likely to become leggy over time. If you live in a hot climate, consider planting bee balm somewhere it'll receive some afternoon shade.

Soil

Bee balm does best in well-draining soil. Before planting in the ground, consider amending the top 6 inches of your soil with compost and coarse sand to improve drainage.

Site

I love to grow bee balm in the native plant and pollinator garden that surrounds my kitchen garden on all sides. Bee balm brings in tons of pollinators to my garden and adds so much vibrant color to the space. Plant it in groups of three throughout your border, preferably in the back or middle of the bed. Or scatter throughout for a more cottage garden vibe.

Bee balm can grow up to 4 feet tall and spread out, so I don't recommend planting it in a raised bed.

Spacing

Space your bee balm plants about 18 to 24 inches apart. These plants are members of the mint family, and like their cousins mint and lemon balm, they can spread out pretty aggressively using their underground rhizomes. It's important to keep some airflow around each plant to prevent problems with powdery mildew, which can affect bee balm.

When to Plant Bee Balm

If you're growing a perennial bee balm, you can plant it by plant in either the spring or the early fall. If you're planting in the fall, prune the stems back a couple inches to encourage your plant to focus on establishing its roots before winter. Direct sow seeds for perennial types from early spring through 8 weeks before your first frost in the fall. Or start indoors 6 to 8 weeks before moving outside.

For annual types, I recommend sowing seeds in the fall so they can overwinter in your garden. You can still sow seeds in the spring once your last frost date has passed, but you'll need to cold stratify them (more on that in a bit).

How to Plant Bee Balm

From Seed

Bee balm seeds benefit from a period of cold stratification. Place seeds in a closed container and refrigerate for about a month.

Bee balm seeds are tiny, like many of their cousins in the mint family. They like to feel a little light on their seed coats before they sprout, so instead of burying them, you'll just press seeds into the soil surface. Keep the soil moist while you're waiting on germination (10 to 14 days).

If you're seed starting indoors (recommended for perennial types), place just one seed per cell. Make sure to harden off seedlings started indoors before planting.

For direct sowing, it's typically recommend to plant in groups of 3 and then thin to 1 plant every 18 inches once your seedlings are a couple inches tall. You can also just broadcast bee balm seeds in your garden if you don't mind thinning them later.

From Plant

Follow these steps to plant bee balm seedlings or plants:

1. Trim back some of the taller stems on the plant to encourage bushier growth.
2. Loosen the soil down to 12 inches. Remove any large stones or debris. If your soil is clay-heavy, mix in some coarse sand and compost to improve drainage.
3. Dig a hole that's twice as wide as the pot and just as deep. Place the pot inside the planting hole to make sure the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface.
4. Place your bee balm in the planting hole and backfill with soil.
5. Space plants 18 to 24 inches apart.
6. Water in well.

If your plants are growing in the ground, you may want to mulch around them to repress weeds and retain moisture.

Bee Balm Care Throughout the Season

Bee balm is super easy to take care of. It's pretty much a fool-proof plant.

Water

I always see gardeners referring to bee balm as a "moisture-loving plant", but when I spot them growing in the wild, guess what? It's dry hill country and fields.

You'll want to water regularly if you're growing bee balm from seed, until your plants get established. After that, I'd only water if your garden has gone more than a week without rain or if you notice the leaves wilting. Perennials should be able to survive with whatever rain you get after their first year of growth.

When watering, aim your water at the roots of the plant, not the foliage, to avoid spreading fungal disease.

Feed

You don't really need to fertilize bee balm. I've actually found that bee balm growing in very nutrient-rich soil is liable to become leggy. I might add a little bit of compost around the base of each plant every quarter.

I don't recommend using synthetic fertilizers, but if you want to apply something, look for a fertilizer low in nitrogen. Nitrogen encourages more leaves over blooms. Instead, use something that encourages flowering and fruiting.

Prune

Deadhead, or pinch back, spent blooms to encourage your plants to send up more flowers throughout the season. At the end of the season, leave the seed heads on the plant to feed birds over winter.

If you notice white spots on the leaves of your plants, you probably have powdery mildew. Prune any stems affected and toss them in the trash.

Support

If your bee balm plants are growing really tall and leaning over, you can prune some of the outer stems or stake your plant to hold it upright.

Protect

Bee balm is rarely affected by pests. In fact, having these plants in your garden typically improves your overall garden health by attracting tons of beneficial insects, including pest predators. The minty scent of bee balm also repels some pests.

The main concern with bee balm is powdery mildew, a fungal disease common in humid climates. Avoid powdery mildew by giving your plants full sun, ensuring there's air circulation around them, and aiming water at the root zone, not the leaves.

How to Overwinter Bee Balm

If you're growing an annual bee balm, your plants will die after the first freeze. Plants readily self-sow, so you may see new plants popping up in the spring if you left fading flower heads on the plants.

For perennials, mulching with compost is a great way to protect your plants over the winter. I recommend leaving late-season blooms on your plants to dry so they can feed birds over the winter. Wait until late winter or early spring to cut back the old growth down to about 2 inches above the ground.

How to Divide Bee Balm

Perennial plants may need to be divided every 2 to 3 years to curb their spread. Do this in the spring, as soon as you see new stems emerging from the ground. Dig up the rootball and use a sharp shovel or hori hori knife to divide it into sections with at last 2 shoots attached to a good root system. Toss the older, woody center and replant only the newer shoots. Keep the new plants well watered while they're getting established.

How to Propagate Bee Balm

Though dividing your plants is the easiest way to make more bee balm, you can also root cuttings. I like to think of propagation as plant magic.

Follow these steps to propagate bee balm plants:

1. Use a clean pair of pruners to take a cutting from new growth in the spring. Cuttings should be about 3 to 5 inches long and trimmed just below a node.
2. Prepare the cuttings by pulling off the lower leaves from each cutting. Cut the bottom at a 45° angle to encourage root growth. Dip stems in rooting hormone, if you have it, or cinnamon (to prevent mold).
3. Mix compost and coarse sand in a small pot. Wet the growing medium. Insert your cuttings so that the node is covered. You can plant multiple cuttings in the same pot since they won't be staying here too long.
4. Place the pot in indirect light. Keep the soil moist but not soaking.

With luck, your cuttings will begin to form new roots in about 3 weeks. You can pot up your rooted cuttings until it's time to move them out to the garden. Now you have free bee balm plants to add to your garden or give away!

How to Harvest & Enjoy Bee Balm

Use a clean pair of pruners or scissors to cut flowering stems at their base. The best time to harvest is in the morning, once the dew has dried.

I love to snip a few blooms just as they're opening to put in vases around my home. Bee balm also makes a beautiful dried flower that's perfect for arrangements or dried herb wreaths. Pick flowers for drying once they've opened fully.

Bee balm flowers are edible and can be used as a garnish or tossed into salads, drinks, or desserts. Most blooms taste minty with a hint of spice. You can also dry the leaves for tea. Bee balm tea tastes similar to mint tea.

If you have a particularly aromatic plant, use the dried leaves and flowers in potpourri or sachets.

Bee Balm Uses

It's said that bee balm tea can ease stomach aches, colds, and fevers. Indigenous Americans used bee balm medicinally to relieve headaches, abdominal pain, and respiratory ailments. Some also used it as an anti-septic.

Bee balm is sometimes referred to as Oswego tea, thanks to a tribe in the New York area that popularized the drink. During the Revolutionary War, Patriots drank bee balm tea instead of black tea from England.

When I'm out in my garden, I like to crush bee balm leaves and rub them on my skin to ward off mosquitos.

Growing Bee Balm FAQs

How long does bee balm bloom?

Most bee balm varieties will bloom from midsummer to fall. Horsemint, a type of native bee balm, blooms from May all the way through October.

Does bee balm come back every year?

Horsemint, or lemon bee balm, is an annual, but most bee balm varieties are hardy perennial plants that will return every year.

Why are my bee balm plants leggy and faded?

Bee balm sometimes grows leggy and scraggly after a heat wave. If you still have a while before your first frost, cut the plants back about halfway down the stems to encourage them to make a comeback. You may get another round of fall blooms. If you're nearing your first frost date, you can prune the stems back to just above ground level. Doing so will not affect the plants' ability to return from their roots in the spring.

Is there any reason not to plant bee balm?

Bee balm spreads so well that it's considered invasive under certain conditions. You might check and make sure that bee balm is not invasive in your area before you plant it. Be ready to divide plants growing in your garden and remove fading flowers to limit self-sowing.

Does bee balm prefer sun or shade?

Overall, these plants do best in full sun.

How do you keep bee balm blooming all summer?

To enjoy the best blooms, be sure to give your plants 6 or more hours of sunlight and about 1 inch of water per week. Avoid fertilizing, which can encourage your plants to produce more leaves instead of flowers. If your plants have been growing for a couple years and are slowing down their flower production, consider dividing them in the spring and tossing the woody center.

Why are the leaves of my bee balm plant turning brown?

Plants that have contracted the fungal disease powdery mildew might first display patches of white or gray and then turn brown. Leaves can also become deformed and fall off. Prune affected stems and make sure the plant has plenty of space.

Time to Grow Some Bee Balm

When you see your first pollinator party around your bee balm, you won't regret growing this beautiful, low-maintenance plant. I hope this encourages you to add more native plants and wildflowers to your garden space.

Sources

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

USDA Plant Database