Members of this mint-family genus — all native to North America — go by a slew of common names, including bergamot and just plain monarda. Bees and hummingbirds love it, too.

In addition to its charm in the garden, bee balm makes a tangy tea, more citrusy than minty. In cooking, use it with anything that benefits from a touch of citrus.

Bee balm grows 2 to 4 (0.6 to 1.2 m) feet tall, has pointed oval leaves with fairly pronounced veins, and has tubular, two-lipped blooms; all a’whorl atop the stem, the flowers look like red daisies trimmed with pinking shears. You can find natural white forms; and cultivars and hybrids extend bloom colors into pink, lavender, and shades in between.

Bee balm demands rich, moisture-retentive soil and does best in Zones 3 through 7. In the humid South, or when drought-stressed elsewhere, it’s susceptible to powdery mildew, so buy mildew-resistant cultivars.

Flowering starts in midsummer and continues for two months if you remove spent blooms. Bee balm may self-seed and spreads by underground stems, although at a more leisurely pace than other mints. Clumps die out in the center, so you need to divide it every couple of years. You can start it from seed, but division in spring is easier.

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