Very lovely!! Can’t help with any different varieties because I also have Raspberry Wine, which I love (but yes, it certainly spreads!). But it looks like you have lots of space, so go for it! Something like heliopsis Tuscan Sun could also look very nice between the two monardas and has a very long bloom time…it’s become one of my favorite perennials over the past few years.

Funny enough, I purchased a Tuscan Sun this spring. I have it in another section of the garden and do love it. I used to have a taller heliopsis past the purple monarda but ended up moving it when that section was over run by poison ivy and we cleared out the whole area. Might see how well it divides.

I tried those little tight clump monardas--maybe bubblegum series or something? They don't look great after blooming, though. And unlike the tall monardas that can have something in front, the little clumpy ones need to be in front, so when they are done blooming, they are not attractive.

Violet, I agree with you, I have 'Bubblegum Blast' and it's rather nice and all while in bloom, though I'll be digging and placing it elsewhere to lend the space to something with a much longer season of interest.

This year the Japanese beetles ate off petals of bee balm--I have the marauding Raspberry Wine too; if it gets out of bounds, I dig it up and share it with a friend. My first year Bubblegum Blast was short bloomed too, hopefully next year it will last longer. My surprise hardy annual was a few new seedlings of Denver Daisy, what a wonderful spark of bright gold!! I do plant a couple of pots of Red Rubrum annual grass and those seed heads sway in the wind and lend a nice dark maroon spikeyness to the garden. I need to learn not to plant so thick, everything gets jammed in and doesn't have room to fully spread out. I planted a couple of Spirea bushes for early bright green color and they get 4' wide before I know it. I will probably like them better in winter when other plants sorta melt away. Another spikey plant is garlic onion, right now is topped with white balls of blooms, has just been blooming 10 days or so. My garden looks best in July and starts to wane in mid August; I need to plan better......lol. I did drive thru a nearby town and one garden I saw had brilliant red bee balm, I might have to try to find some of that. I like gray leaved plants too, so ground hugging sedums in front of the bed, and a stacys byzantina that I worry up every year. Right now my caryopteris are starting to do their pale purplish blue blooms, love the pale green leaves as contrast. Your pictures are lovely, looks like you have planned well with a few bigger bushes and plenty of room!! Post a few more!