Nice pics! Your bee balm looks like it was recently planted. It spreads like crazy in my garden into large patches I have to cull back drastically in the Spring.

The Salvia 'Hot lips' looks like it has less white in the 2nd & 3rd picture. What's up with that?

Yes my balm was planted this spring Ive had some bad luck with mildew in the past seem to be doing better this year. but Im trying again.

Apparently the hot lips will change with the temps. Will go from red and white to red to red or white and back again. Whatever the hummers have loved them from the getgo.

Mildew is a problem with bee balm. My yard is a little too shaded and a little to cramped constricting air flow so it's a big problem for me, even with the "mildew resistant" varieties.

For some unknown reason all of my beebalm seems to be doing well with more flowering than before. The sad part , so far the hummers have not taken to it. I viewed one hummer do a quick check but it certainly didnt linger long. Bumblebees and butterfies , yes as expected. Im not really worried about that though come august the hummers seem to use everything available and this year I have added quite a bit. With the bee balm, several new greggii and the salvia hot lips, penstemon murrayanus[havent used this one either].

I'm surprised they are not too interested in your Marshall's delight. I grow many types of Monarda, but the hummers really love only 2 of them - the regular red bee balm (Monarda didyma), and Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' which is a cultivar of M. didyma.

The red bee balm is just starting to bloom, it is a couple weeks early this year, and the Raspberry wine starts a little later. When the Monarda starts blooming, it's the official start of the hummer season for me. (Don't have feeders, just do plants.) I expect to start seeing them frequently through the day from that point on.

I have Bee Balm "Fireball" which is supposed to be a resistant variety, but it got mildew like crazy!! I got it this year. I have it in a pot since my soil seems to have wars with the bee balm and kills it off for some unknown reason. If it were in the ground I can guarantee it would be dead now. It is doing great in the pot. It is in full sun, and we had a ton of rain every week. I sprayed with the milk solution everytime after it rained, it didn't help with the mildew at all!! Let me tell you though, I tried the solution of baking soda, water, and dish soap instead, spraying it on the leaves, and I have not had much of a problem with the mildew returning anymore.

Monarda can be finicky. Last year almost all of mine, even the mildew-resistent cultivars, had terrible mildew. It was a very rainy cool spring/early summer. This year we are having a hot dry summer and the plants have no mildew at all, but do look a little bedraggled because of the heat. I don't usually spray and let nature take its course. Even with mildew it still looks pretty. The hummers are going crazy over it right now!

Mine is in partial shade, does great as long as I give a bit of water in this weather. This picture is from yesterday -

How many ours of sun does bee balm need to flower? I have mine in pots and am lucky to get 4 hours of afternoon sun. Is that enough to get bloom?

Most Monarda does pretty good in partial sun. That picture has red bee balm (Monarda didyma) and the cultivar 'Raspberry wine'. The purple Monarda in the background is 'Claire Grace' which the hummers don't like as much as the other two. They all do fine in part sun. That garden gets about 3-4 hours sun total off and on through the day and it blooms great.