Sugar Buzz® Cherry Pops brings cherry-red bee balm flowers to the middle of the summer border. From midsummer into late summer, the strong, branching stems carry a full dome of 2 to 2.5-inch blooms.
It stays around 20 inches tall and fills a container nicely without running through the garden. It holds up to powdery mildew better than many older types, and the minty foliage is fragrant. Hummingbirds in particular go for the red flowers.
What it looks like
Rounded, shaggy flower heads 2 to 2.5 inches across are composed of many tubular, two-lipped florets in a clear cherry red, spreading from a central crown. Each head sits on a ring of reddish bracts at the top of a square stem. Leaves are opposite, oval to lance-shaped, dark green with toothed margins. The plant forms an upright clump about 20 inches tall and up to 26 inches wide. At peak bloom the red heads merge into a solid dome over dark green leaves.
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-red heads carry on the summer color and bee traffic near your lavender.
Care
Grow in full sun to part shade in average to fertile soil with regular water, especially during summer dry spells. Hardy in zones 4-8. Give it room for air to move around the stems to help keep leaves clean, deadhead faded heads for a longer show, and divide the clump every few years in spring.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Monarda
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Flower color: Cherry red
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Foliage: Dark green
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Growth habit: Upright clump
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Mature size: 20 in tall × 26 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: Mid-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.