Pardon My Rose puts intense rose-pink bee balm flowers, 2.5 to 3 inches across, on a plant only a little over a foot tall. The blooms open in midsummer and continue into late summer.
Its bushy, well-branched clump spreads slowly but stays manageable, which makes it handy for the front of the border and for containers. It has good powdery mildew resistance, and the semi-glossy leaves smell minty when brushed. Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees visit steadily.
What it looks like
Large, shaggy flower heads 2.5 to 3 inches across are made of long, tubular florets in intense rose pink, radiating on pink-tinged bracts just above the leaves. Leaves are opposite, oval to lance-shaped, medium green and semi-glossy with toothed margins. The plant forms a bushy, well-branched clump about 14 to 18 inches tall and 22 to 28 inches wide. At peak bloom the rose-pink heads cover the top of the medium green 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 rose-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
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Botanical name: Monarda didyma
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Flower color: Intense rose pink
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Foliage: Medium green, semi-glossy
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Growth habit: Bushy, 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.