Hi OKPrairie,

Which kind do you have--the natives monarda citriodora or monarda fistulosa, or some of the cultivated, named monarda didyma varieties?

And, if they didn't bloom last year and haven't bloomed this year....when did they last bloom? 2005? How long have you had them? Could they be crowded and be needing division?

Our monarda citriodoras in the pastures are blooming like mad, We have suffered from the lack of sunshine and heat like everyone else, although we've had more heat and sun the last few days.

Also, do yours get nitrogen fertilizers, either from you, or as a run-off from a neighboring property? Are they growing vigorously, except for not blooming?

Dawn

I have monarda fistulosa and it is about to bloom. They need some protection from west sun in my yard, and they like their feet moist.

I've tried a couple of cultivars, neither of which did very well. I have some citriodora seedlings that are blooming already. So, it appears they will also do all right.

I don't feed my Monardas at all and they do just fine. When I first planted them, though, I had built up the soil in my bed.

Susan

Mine are one of the didyma varieties, I imagine. I think they came from Walmart, about 3-4 years ago. I don't think they need division because they're not all that thick. When I drain my little pond, I sometimes run the water in that bed, so I suppose it could be too much nitrogen. I have wondered about that. They are in a narrow strip between the house and the neighbor's stockade fence - south side of the house and north side of the fence. They bloomed like crazy in 2004 and 2005 but haven't bloomed since. They grow very tall but don't bloom. Thanks, ladies. I just wondered if they were late or just not going to bloom again. I do love the way the smell, even if I don't get any blooms.

If they are between the house and the fence, how many hours of sunlight do you think they get every day? And, is the sunlight full sun or dappled shade or what?

Also, I am more curious than before. If they had never bloomed well, I would think that they were dud plants, which sometimes happens. But, if the bloomed well in 2004/05 and not since then, what has changed?

Have you tried feeding them a bloom booster type plant food like Miracle Grow Bloom Booster (10-52-10) or Peters Super Blossom Booster (10-50-10) or something similar? In general, I don't like using synthetic fertilizers much, and esp. those that aren't more evenly balanced, but sometimes if you have a plant or plants that just won't bloom, you can 'kick them into gear' with such products.

Dawn

They get quite a bit of sun. "Narrow strip" might be misleading. They get full sun from midmorning until midafternoon, at least.

I don't use synthetic fertilizers either and have used bonemeal on them. I suppose I could try a bloom booster.

I can't figure out what's changed, either, except that we had drought last year and the extreme opposite this year.

To give you a better idea, in that bed I also have sedum (bloomed already), santolina, rose moss (blooming in a pot), a pineapple-type salvia (blooming), rudbeckia, lots of thyme (blooming now), coneflower (getting ready to bloom), calla lilies (not yet).

Across the path, against the house (south) there is rosemary, sage, oregano and tarragon - and my window box with purslane and small zinnia.

I dunno.

Well, it certainly seems like they ought to be getting enough sunlight then, doesn't it?

I love beebalm, but I have never grown it. Well, I had it one year in Texas, but it didn't like my mucky black clay soil.

What I heard from old-timey gardeners when I was growing up in Texas was that it doesn't bloom well here in this part of the country because it doesn't like our heat and humidity. Oh, and of course, because it is so prone to get powdery mildew. So, I know it has a reputation in Texas for not blooming well due to the heat and humidity, but many Oklahomans say they do quite well with it. ???

I have to say that I have not seen it growing anywhere in Love or Carter County since we moved here.

Sorry. I have racked my brain and don't think I have come up with any sort of answer for you.

Dawn

Put it down as another one of those failures, I guess.

Isn't there some variety of monarda that is native and grows all over the roadside in the southwestern part of the state, around the Wichita Mountains? Horse mint, maybe? Isn't that a variety of monarda? The smell is the same anyway. Of course conditions here in Stillwater aren't exactly the same as there.

Yes, it is horsemint and it grows all over our part of the state. It is also known as wild beebalm, wild bergamont, and lemon horsemint. I think you would really like it. I like it because "it won't die, and you can't kill it", which means it is a plant that I can grow in my red clay.

Horsemint is monarda citriodora, and it is blooming in my pasture, everyone else's pasture, and alongside the highways and railroad right of ways right now. It usually blooms in the May to July timeframe, depending on the weather. I have seen it bloom here as early as late April in hot, dry springs. This year it was a little slow to start, probably due to the prolonged cool, rainy, cloudy weather we had in April and May.

Of course, the flowers are not as showy as any of the named varieties of Monarda Didyma, but they do bloom faithfully and the bees and other winged wonders seem to be attracted to them.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Horsemint

That's what I was after when I bought the other. Can it be purchased or would I have to go dig it up somewhere?

I am sure it probably could be purchased, at least in the form of seeds. I'm sure Wildseed Farms carries the seed. If you can dig some up, though, it would be quicker and less frustrating. Sometimes wildflower seed is hard to germinate unless you can exactly replicate the conditions it needs to germinate in the wild.

If you want, I can save you some seed when mine set seed. You probably would have to cold-stratify them, or at least winter-sow them.

Dawn

I got them going from seed. I bought the seed from Wildseed farms about four years ago as a component of the "Texas-Oklahoma Mix". I sowed a batch in the spring and a batch in the fall and they both bloomed the first couple of years. About the only thing surviving besides the horsemint is lots of Indian Blanket and some evening primrose. The horsemint is spreading slowly in one place (over the septic leach field) and has died out in the other (hot dry clay). We mow the septic field once or twice a year.

This spring I bought a packet of "lemon mint" and I don't know if it is the same thing or not. They are slow getting started so I can't tell and I have thrown the seed packet away.

Gayle

Gayle,

I think lemon mint will be the monarda citriodora. It is the only plant I have ever seen sold under that name, although a lot of people call it horsemint.....not to be confused with horseherb, which is a great native groundcover!

Wildflowers are always slow starters for me, and I have had the best luck with them by scattering purchased seed in the pasture at the very same time that Mother Nature and the wind are scattering the seed of the native plants of the same variety. Then, once I finally have a good stand of plants in the pasture, I dig up a few and move them to the more civilized areas of our landscape. The only exceptions to this have been Mexican hat (Ratibia columnaris), black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta) and white-flowered swamp mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos). I started these from seed in my butterfly bed outside the kitchen window and they naturalized themselves elsewhere on the property.

I have been cultivating a small patch of bluebonnets from seed for years. Every year it gets a little larger and sets more seed for the next year. I still don't have a huge field of bluebonnets, but maybe one of these years I will.

Dawn

Thank you for the generous offer and for the info, Dawn. I think I'll just wait and ponder. There's not much space there anyway, and I may decide I want to just plant something else if these guys really go another year with no blooms.

OKPrairie,

OK. Good luck. Maybe the monarda you have will come to its senses and bloom! Keep us posted.

Dawn

Boy, I had to dig a long way back to retrieve this one. Just wanted to report that my monarda finally has a bloom and looks like there may be at least a couple more. I think your first suggestion, Dawn, that it needs dividing may have been correct after all. One book I looked at said they need dividing every year!! Mine is a Jacob Kline, I finally remembered.

Yippee! A bloom! I hope you get more. Jacob Kline is a really pretty variety.