Monarda punctata, Spotted Horsemint

A Monarda of another colour…

The blossoms of this monarda are pale yellow, with rusty spots that are the source of their common name. They begin to bloom in July, starting with the clusters of buds closer to the base of the blooming stem, while new bunches of flower buds continue to form at the top of the stem. Each layer of blooms rests on a whorl of white or pink bracts. Flowering season stretches to as long as six weeks and the bracts retain their colour through to the fall.

In my experience, this Monarda isn’t inclined to spread through their root systems, like many other members of the Mint family do. Instead, they spread through seeding, which is something that I am happy for since they have a biennial or short-lived perennial lifecycle and I’d love for them to hand around for the long term. Seedling success rates seem to be moderate enough that these are unlikely to become challenging in most garden conditions.

Equally happy in full sun and part shade, I haven’t seen these troubled by mildew, even in the dry conditions that stress some other Monardas and leave them vulnerable to infection. In fact, they seem to have a distinct preference for sandy, well drained soil, with the ones in richer or wetter areas often not returning after blooming in year two and the ones in the hot, dry spots returning for year three and even year four. Their height has been roughly 18”, give or take 6”, with a similar spread.

They have partnered beautifully with Virginia Mountain Mint in the Perth garden, both for aesthetic effect and because they are both incredibly attractive to so many of the less celebrated pollen and nectar feeders, including many species of, totally unaggressive, wasps. How do I know they are unaggressive? Because, as you can see from the photos, I’m constantly getting into their personal space snapping photos of them and they have never once done more than switch flowers if I get too close.

In addition to the Mountain Mint, companion species for a dry, sunny meadow setting include Pearly Everlasting, Field Pussytoes, Thimbleweed, Orange Butterfly Weed, Whorled Milkweed, Lance Leaved Coreopsis, Poverty Oat Grass, Prairie Smoke, Button Blazing Star, Wild Blue Flax, Black-eyed-Susan, White, Grey and Upland White Goldenrod, Skyblue and Heath Aster and Hoary Vervain.