I think they like hot dry conditions, usually I can’t give them those but the way of it this past few years maybe I can, worth a try, just a packet of seeds.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Monarda like moister retentive soil in summer otherwise they will succumb to powdery mildew a well know problem with monarda, They don't like wet feet in winter. Dig in lots of organic matter when planting both of mine have come up successfully this year.
My two monarda last year , Scorpion ( purple ) and Squaw red with the tallest flower reaching 6ft. Not sure how squaw is doing this year but I do know its still there but scorpion is romping away
To add some photos, Cambridge Scarlet last year. These are from 3 9cm plants bought in February for £1.99 each (potted on and planted in April), they flowered for almost full two months in July and August.
And this year. I removed a lot of runners, otherwise, the clump would be three times as big. They are more invasive than my mint and the runners are very shallow, I don't think that growing it in a buried pot would help.
Sandy free-draining soil. Almost no watering and certainly no feeding. I just let it to do its thing.
We have fireball which do look great, after quite a struggle in the 1st year u e now had 2 good years with cuttings and gone from 1 plant to about 15. I love the way the stems burst up through the flower heads.
On June 8th in this discussion I related a problem with my monardas. Finally I had worried unnecessarily. It was a slug attack. By nibbling some of the stems they had weakened them, hence their " diseased " aspect. In this photo - in the foreground - we can still see the slightly yellowed foliage of the specimen that had been the most attacked. The rest is in great shape. I am looking forward to the curious "tiered" flowers.
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