Bee balm is a great addition to a pollinator garden. The flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees; and the seed heads will attract birds in the fall and winter.

The bee balm flower has an open, daisy-like shape, with tubular petals in shades of red, pink, purple, and white. Bee balm plants are perennial, coming back year after year to add cheerful color to your garden.

Bee balm plants prefer moist, rich soil, and a sunny location. Bee balm will tolerate shade, particularly in hot-summer areas. Plant it in any protected spot that would benefit from a bright shot of color.

Bee Balm is a bergamot plant that comes as a hardy perennial. Also known as wild bergamot, the species is Monarda didyma.

While the flowers don’t store well when picked, the leaves can be picked and processed for medicinal and culinary uses, such as adding it to summer drinks or making a tea from the leaves.

A dense, rounded, terminal, head-like cluster of bright red, tubular flowers atop a square stem. Scarlet beebalm is a popular perennial with scarlet-red flowers in terminal tufts.

The 3 ft. stems are lined with large, oval, dark-green leaves. Individual flowers are narrowly tube-shaped, tightly clustered together in 2 in. heads. The leaves have a minty aroma.

This species is coarser than true mints (Mentha) but is very showy and frequently cultivated in gardens. Hummingbirds are especially attracted to the red flowers.

The alternate common name Oswego Tea refers to the use of the leaves for a tea by the Oswegos of New York.

Early colonists also used the plant for this purpose when regular tea was scarce. A white-flowered variant is sometimes grown in gardens.