Pardon My Lavender II is a compact bee balm with soft lilac-purple flowers that are as large as those on tall varieties, 2.5 to 3 inches across. It is a stronger, cleaner improvement on the earlier Pardon My Lavender, with more vigor and better disease resistance.
The glossy, deep green clump stays around 14 to 18 inches, so it slips easily into the front of a border or a combination planter. Blooms open in midsummer and bring in hummingbirds, butterflies and bees, and the leaves carry a minty scent.
What it looks like
Large, shaggy flower heads 2.5 to 3 inches across are made of many long, tubular florets in soft lilac-purple, radiating from a central crown on purplish bracts. The heads rest just above the foliage. Leaves are opposite, oval to lance-shaped, deep green and glossy with toothed edges. The plant forms a compact, well-branched clump about 14 to 18 inches tall and up to 28 inches wide. At peak bloom the pale purple heads are spread evenly over the top of the glossy mound.
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 lilac-purple 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
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Botanical name: Monarda didyma
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Flower color: Soft lilac purple
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Foliage: Glossy deep green
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Growth habit: Compact, well-branched clump
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Mature size: 14–18 in tall × 22–28 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Early-July
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Peak bloom: Late-July
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Resistant
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Pollinator value: Excellent
Sizes and shipping
One full 20-cell plug tray: 20 large, field-ready plugs of this variety (cells about 2¾ in. wide × 3¼ in. deep or deeper), ready to plant out or pot up. 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.