Monarda, also known as American lemon balm, bergamot, lemon mint, is an essential oil plant belonging to the labiaceae family. The height of the straight stem reaches approximately ninety-one hundred centimeters. The leaves have a jagged shape. Small flowers form inflorescences with a diameter of 8 cm. Monarda is an excellent honey plant with a variety of shapes and colors of fragrant flowers. Stems, inflorescences and leaves emit various strong aromas: mint, lemon, etc. There are a huge number of annual and perennial species, hybrids of this plant. Monarda, the cultivation of which takes place in our gardens, is mainly tubular and double, which are perennials. Monarda flowering occurs approximately from July to August and forms about 100 flower stalks by the age of 5 years. This flower is insensitive to pests and diseases, unpretentious and frost-resistant. Monarda, the cultivation of which occurs mainly as a medicinal, spicy and ornamental plant, due to the nondescript flowers - “scabs” - is not appreciated by many gardeners, but it has a special charm. This flower looks very unusual in single and group plantings of garden flowers on flower beds and discounts.
Monarda: growing
The plant is very unpretentious, grows well both in partial shade and under the scorching sun. He does not like moist and strongly acidic soil. Monarda perfectly takes root on those lands where flower annual crops with a small vegetative period once grew, for example, gypsophila, Iberis.
Care
Flower care consists of watering, loosening, frequent weeding and top dressing. Top dressing is done 2 times a year - during planting (lignohumate and nitrophos) and after flowering (potassium sulfate and superphosphate). Monarda, the cultivation of which is easy to care for, requires at the end of the season only cutting off the aerial parts of the bush in order to revive again next spring. The roots of the plant are frost-resistant and tolerate winter cold.
Monarda: growing from seeds, dividing the bush and seedlings
Propagation of the monarda occurs using seedlings, dividing the bush, as well as seeds. In order to grow seedlings, in March-April seeds are sown to a depth of about 1 cm. After about 5-10 days, the seeds germinate. Seedlings dive once after 16-20 days in pots with a diameter of 10 cm. In this case, they better take root and bloom for 15 days rather.
Seedlings need to be poured several times with a solution of nitrogen fertilizers. Monarda landed in open ground in mid-May. When propagated by seeds, the earth is slightly compacted, furrows are made on it and watered. Dry seeds are sown and sprinkled with nutritious soil, rammed and covered with a film for three weeks. By dividing the bush, it multiplies in the springtime for 5-6 years. At this age, a part of the bush in the center begins to fall out of the flower, it loses its former shape. Monarda propagation is also practiced by means of root segments. This method is recognized as the most convenient. Monarda, which you can buy at any flower shop, has special medicinal properties that will pleasantly surprise you.