A Tale of Two Monardas

First there is the hybrid Monarda, 'Violet Queen.' It was one of the plants ordered using a holiday gift certificate. It did well for a while, but then one spring it caught the dreaded powdery mildew, along with two phlox. One of the phlox and this monarda got it bad, and died. This is contrary to most advice that says powdery mildew will rarely kill the plants infected.

Then, there is the native monarda, monarda fistulosa. This is a lavender-pink color, and does not grow as compactly and neatly as the hybrid. I picked this up at a master gardener plant swap. It was to become an invasive thug in my garden, spreading profusely through every winter and choking out everything in its path. Now each spring, I devote several days ripping it out, trying to limit it to a small patch.

I need to state that both are blooming now. And, the bees appear to appreciate each equally well. During my annual clean out, I transplanted several of the invasive monarda runners fron garden bed to a very steep slope, encouraging it to spread there and help hold the bank of soil in place.

And, what about the Violet Queen monarda? A good gardening friend who also received the gift certificate ordered the same monarda. Her plant continued to survive, so I received a few sprigs two years ago. I am happy to report that it is again doing very well here, even surviving the four-lined plant bug this spring.

And what about the phlox that survived? That was a shade-loving native woodland phlox. It took a big hit, but with two years of TLC, it's back on its feet. Lesson of this post: don't ignore powdery mildew. Even though it may not kill the plant, it along with other possible problems will.

Oh, and it's Pollinators Week! They don't call this bee balm for nothing.

Living On and On

This nicotiana was planted in the clay of a sewer line replacement bed last spring. This is one of my plants that self-seed every year; there are hundreds that come up annually in the front garden. I moved some of these seedlings last year to the sewer line bed, and topped with a lot of organic mulch to start multi-year process of amending the soil.

With a new wood fence that reflects sunlight and heat and help protect the bed over winter, some of these nicotiana decided to stay over winter and bounce to life in early spring. A sunny warm spot, along with a layer of leaf mulch helped to protect it from winter.

This one plant came out of hibernation and started blooming a month ago when other nicotiana seeds were germinating. Now, many new nicotiana seedlings are sprouting around the base of this plant, and some of those are blooming now. The mother plant can use the company. And yes, I end up ripping the seedlings out all over the front yard like weeds.

Year after year, these blooms coming from the self-seeding are turning more and more cream-colored, losing their lime color. No problem. They bloom at evenings, so color is not that visible.

Come another month, these plants will be reseeding and all bloomed out. Cutting them back will produce more blooms, but they will not be as prolific as they are now.