Last blog, I wrote about the red-flowered bee balm (Monarda didyma) and promised that I would write about wild bee balm (Monarda fistulosa).
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Last web log , I compose about the ruby - flowered bee balm ( Monarda didyma ) and promised that I would indite about the zesty , godforsaken bee balm ( Monarda fistulosa ) . So as you’re able to see pictured here – it is still green – though it will be cover with lilac-colored prime in the next month . It is about 4 - feet tall now and could hand 5 - to 6 - feet when flowering . The shaggy - headed , royal - hue blossom last for at least a month to 6 week and attract pollinators of every variety in abundance .
Most of the wild bergamot , other than the red-floweredM.didyma , are acrid and savory in flavor and so should be used in piquant dishful rather than sweet . Monarda fistulosa , also refer to as purple bee balmand wild bergamot orange , contains carvacrol which gives it a spicy flavor standardised to Greek oregano . The pungent , hack leaves can be added to soups , stews , bean , marinade , Lycopersicon esculentum sauce , and with egg , seafood or meat . utilise it anywhere you might use oregano or savory . I care to chop it and scatter it over pizza pie , pasta and grain dish .

Since I have it in abundance , I have been using it in lots of smasher lately . It do a wicked salsa verde – I’ve combined it with Petroselinum crispum and cilantro leafage for asouth - of - the - border salsa – and I ’ve mix it with garlic mustard , wood Jamaica sorrel and clammy chickweed for awild weeds salsa . Both were killer whale in force . I add together Allium sativum and olive fossil oil to both ; nuts and/or parmesan are optional .
Another incentive of the bee ointment and most likely where it make its name , is that the leaf are good for relieving bee and wasp stings and insect bites . I have used it many times and it work , relieve the pain in the neck almost straightaway and it reduces bump and the eventual itch . you’re able to take a few leaves and brusie them in your hands and fray them on the stinging . I prefer a poultice – and when out of doors – I just jaw up a few leaves and put them on the area and tie my bandanna around it to hold in the plaster in place . If you are near the house , you may always go inside and chop the leaf and apply them , enclose with a neat fabric . Reapply as necessitate .
Many Native American tribes used it for cold and coughing , as well as stomach maladies , headaches and for skin problems . It has anti - inflammatory and antioxidant properties and has been used as a diuretic .

Besides attracting our pollinators and the culinary and medicative uses of monarda , it is just plain gorgeous in the garden . This delicious and utilitarian herb is in my top ten herbaceous plant to grow . However , I will give you a foreland - up to mind as it is invading . I incite a few volunteer plants to a layer along the driveway a few old age back . It now stretch out about 15 foot by 8 feet – recollect it is a penis of the mint family – so put it where you do n’t beware it going wild .
Here is an article I wrote on the wild bergamot last summertime when they were in full peak ; take a look at what you’re able to expect./item/61576 / monarda - spp
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This stand ofM. fistulosa,which is in full, hot summer sun, reaches a good four- to six-feet tall. Click on other pix to enlarge and read captions.Photo/Illustration: Susan Belsinger
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