Pardon My Cerise Bee Balm - 72-Cell Plug Tray

Pardon My Cerise packs full-size bee balm flowers onto a plant just over a foot tall. From midsummer through late summer, dark cherry-pink blooms 2.5 to 3 inches across sit right on top of the leaves.

Its bushy, well-branched habit makes it a handy fit for a sunny border edge or a mixed planter. It has good resistance to powdery mildew, the semi-glossy leaves smell of mint, and the flowers keep hummingbirds, butterflies and bees coming back.

What it looks like

Large, shaggy flower heads 2.5 to 3 inches across are made of many long, tubular florets in dark cherry pink, radiating out like a crown on reddish-tinted bracts. The heads sit directly atop the foliage on short square stems. Leaves are opposite, oval to lance-shaped, deep green and semi-glossy with toothed edges. The plant forms a bushy, compact clump about 14 to 18 inches tall and 10 to 12 inches wide. At peak bloom the oversized heads look almost too big for the small plant, covering its top.

Growing it with lavender

Bee balm prefers richer, more evenly moist soil than lavender, so set it in a neighboring bed with better soil and regular water, where its cherry-pink heads carry on the summer color and bee traffic near your lavender.

Care

Give it full sun to part shade, average to fertile soil and plenty of water; it performs best where air moves freely around the plant. Hardy in zones 4-8. Snip off faded flower heads to keep it neat, and divide every few years if the center thins.

At a glance

• Botanical name: Monarda didyma
• Flower color: Dark cherry pink
• Foliage: Deep green, semi-glossy
• Growth habit: Bushy, compact clump
• Mature size: 14–18 in tall × 10–12 in wide
• USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
• Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
• Bloom start: Early-July
• Peak bloom: Late-July
• Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
• Deer resistance: Resistant
• Pollinator value: Excellent

Sizes and shipping

One full 72-cell plug tray: 72 young starter plugs of this variety (cells about 1⅓ in. wide × 2½ in. deep), rooted and ready to pot up into quarts or gallons. Best for growers and nurseries. Potted plants and plug trays ship during our live-plant seasons, March 1–May 31 and October 1–November 30; June through September is local pickup only. Plugs, potted plants and trays do not ship to AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, UT or WA.