Monarda bradburiana
Origin: Southeast US
Improvement status: Wild
Seeds per packet: ~50
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
Bradbury's beebalm, sometimes called Eastern beebalm, is a relatively compact native beebalm species with a graceful crown of pale pinkish purple flowers, beloved by pollinators. It has a wide range from Texas to Virginia, but the highest concentrations are in Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, western Kentucky, and west-central Tennessee. The aerial parts of the plant make a pleasant minty tea. Like other bee balms, it is an excellent honey plant — if you grow enough to produce a monofloral honey you'll be rewarded with one of the most precious and delicious honeys on the planet, sweet and sultry, with the faintest whisper of musky mintiness.
Our seed comes from our friend Aaron Parker at Edgewood Nursery in Falmouth, Maine.
GROWING TIPS: Cold/moist stratify for sixty days prior to planting.
