Balm Monarda
Balm Monarda
Creating a Hummingbird Garden
Planting the right flowering plants is an excellent way to enjoy the company of hummingbirds. It also adds beautiful color to your garden.
Azalea, Butterfly Bush (Buddleia), Cape Honeysuckle, Flame Acanthus, Flowering Quince, Lantana, Manzanita, Mimosa, Red Buckeye, Tree Tobacco, Turk's Cap, and Weigela are some of the best trees and shrubs to consider when deciding what to plant to attract hummingbirds to your garden. Vines to think about are Coral Honeysuckle, Cypress Vine, Morning Glory, Scarlet Runner Bean and Trumpet Creeper. Depending on Climate, perennial flowers are a good source of attraction for hummingbirds. Some of these are Bee Balm (Monarda), Canna, Cardinal Flower, Columbine, Coral Bells, Four O'Clocks, Foxglove, Hosta, Hummingbird Mint (Agastache), Little Cigar, Lupine, Penstemon, and Yucca. A few annuals to consider for your garden are Beard Tongue (and other penstemons), Firespike, Fuchsia, Impatiens, Jacobiana, Jewelweed, Petunia, Various Salvia species, and Shrimp Plant. It is always best to check with your local gardening center to see which trees, shrubs, flowers and vines will do best in your area and for your climate.
Hummingbirds have very little to no sense of smell. For this reason they are largely attracted to trees, vines, flowers and shrubs that they can see and which produce nectar. They are constantly looking for new sources of food when they are traveling or migrating on their routine routes – called traplining. Your new flowering garden would offer them a nice place to gather nutrition.
Not only do they feed off the nectar, but also on insects that call these gardens home. Hummingbirds rely upon the protein from these "garden pests." Therefore, it is not a good idea to use pesticides in your garden. If they ingest the pesticides, it could sicken or kill them.
Hummingbirds can conserve energy by entering a hibernation-like state called "torpor." They can control their body temperature by either lowering it about 20 degrees or raising it up to 50 degrees. This will help them to stay warm on a cold night or help sustain them when food is scarce. Trees and shrubs provide a wonderful place for hummingbirds to perch and perhaps torpor.
There are many beautiful ways to bring nature together in an outside setting. Researching to plant the right kind of flowering plants, trees or shrubs will bring you many hours of enjoyment when hummingbirds discover a new place to nurture themselves on their travels. You might want to think about adding a hummingbird sun spinner and other garden accessories to your bird oasis as well.
About the Author
Please help me diagnose what is wrong with my Bee Balm (Monarda).?
Have had them four or five years and they have spread nicely. This year some of the leaves are turning from normal green to light"ish" red and some of them are turning black. Can I save these plants and what is going on with them. I live in Zone 6 B. Have had lots of rain and over night frosts which have stopped now.. Thank you everyone.
It sounds as though they're exhibiting a stress response to conditions that are not ideal for them, especially younger, more tender foliage. The redness is an indicator of this, to some extent, and black could be the same thing too - unless these leaf parts have died -though Monarda leaves would normally be brown after dieing.
As the cold weather is now completed, I would feed them and remove any dead foliage as it arises - some of affected leaves may die off, but your plants should be fine to continue growing as they are very hardy.
Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob
Balm Monarda
Hummingbird moth feeding on milkweed
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Bee Balm or Bergamot Flowers (Monarda Fistulosa), North America $24.99 Wally Eberhart Bee Balm or Bergamot Flowers (Monarda Fistulosa), North America - Photographic Print |
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Blossom of Spotted Beebalm or Horsemint (Monarda Punctata) in Meadow $24.99 Gerry Bishop Blossom of Spotted Beebalm or Horsemint (Monarda Punctata) in Meadow - Photographic Print |
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Balm in Gilead $5.97 Balm in Gilead |
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Bag Balm $18.57 Bag Balm |
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Balm of Tulips $59.99 Balm of Tulips - Wall Decal |
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RectoRex Balm $34.95 Herbal balm soothes the anal area |
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Bee Balm $79.99 Julie Nightingale Bee Balm - Framed Art Print |
How to make a herb garden
the first thing to do is to assess your site-most herbs prefer sun and free-draining soil.A soil test to assess pH and soil texture may be necessary in areas prone to very acidic,limey or clay soil.The solution to acidic soil is to add lime at the recommended dose per sq metre,if the soil is limestone sulphur can be used to acidify the soil but preferably choose another site.If the soil is clay add leafmould,manure and sand in equal quantities to improve the texture.
Another factor to consider is wind-you may need to plant a windbreak if the site is particularly windswept.Also try to avoid sites close to rabbit warrens as they have a tendency to nibble young growth.
Next remove the layer of grass,water heavily and leave for a few weeks before spraying off the weeds with a herbicide such glyphosate.Also try to choose a site not infested with perennial weeds such as dandelion,nettle,groundelder or bindweed.
Next single dig the area and rake to a fine tilth improving the soil as already stated with manure and//or sand.It not a good idea to add too much manure as many herbs do not require excessive nutrition to flower infact quite the opposite.
Plants for sun-
rosemary- a plant from the med which is hardy to -6 degrees c due to the fact that it grows near the coast.It was used as the original christmas tree and can produce beautiful blue or white flowers at christmas time
thyme-used as a gargle by herbalists due to its anti-bacterial action.It is delicious when combined with meat and aids digestion.It hates getting wet feet so always grow in full sun in free-draining soil
lavender-a beautiful herb which is very bitter to taste but used in cottage gardens round the country in pastel schemes.Again must have full sun and free draining soil as it is from the med like rosemary and thyme
nasturtium-annual herb with edible flowers and leaves with that kick which is typical of members of the brassica family.Tolerates extremely poor soil and heat but can spread prolifically by late summer producing red and orange flowers
Marshmallow-the root was the original source of the sweet.grows on marshes in the east of england rarely so prefers moisture retentive soil in full sun.produces beautiful pink flowers in july.Its leaves are used as a demulcent in herbalism.
plants for shade
Angelica-biennial plant that flowers in its 2nd year before dying.Allow it to self-seed if you can but remember that it gets very big.There is a purple version also and both make a beautiful feature at the back of a shaded border.
melissa- lemon balm.tolerates shade and poor soil and has scented leaves-like jerusalem artichoke its the easy going plant of the herb garden as it will survive anywhere.
violets-flowers in early spring-you cant beat a carpet of violets!the flowers can be candied.
bastard balm-has little opera singers of flowers with pink collars.found in hedgerows but rare in england but common in the sw where the rain sustains it.
monarda-bergamot-used to make earl grey tea and has a punk hairstyle tuft of flowers.very beautiful plant.
thyme
About the Author
sam macdonald is a gardener living in london-his email address is www.countrycottagegardener.co.uk and his email address is cottage.gardener@live.co.uk
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A Description of the Monarda Didyma or Oswego Tea, Bee Balm, Indian's Plume, Fragrant Balm, or Mountain Mint Wildflower [Mint Family - Labiatae] (FLOWERS, BOTANY) ... |
Balm Monarda