Hi this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment I want to talk about how to grow bee balm or monarda. And it's a beautiful plant that's great for bees and it's a good plant, has lots of medicinal purposes, that's a native to eastern United States. And now because bee balm is native to the eastern United States and it grows on the prairie and in some not real high elevation, but in some mountainous areas. And it needs a cold winter so if you live in a warmer climate you've got to cool it down or just start it from seed every spring. So they do like cold winters. And a lot of times they're just treated as an annual. Because they don't like a lot of humidity. They rot out, too, if they have a lot of moisture. So they're an easy plant to grow in the right conditions. So you can either start them from seed in the spring or you can buy the plants already growing. And the easiest thing is just to put the seeds right in the ground our you can put them in little plant starter trays, too. Just put some potting soil in there. And then just cover them barely, maybe a 1/2 an inch. Just put a couple seeds per container or per little hole. And then you just barely cover them up. Just put a little more soil on top. Because they're so little you cannot tell the difference. And then when you water it in, too, make sure not to use a heavy stream. Use a mister and just barely mist it so that the water just doesn't go flying into the container and take the seeds back out. A lot of times you can put cheesecloth or a piece of material like a sheet over the top, too, and water it and then that way the seeds don't fly away. An easy way to grow bee balm is just to buy them already growing. And so if they've got the roots, too, the best thing to do for a plant is to just divide those roots out a little bit and give them some air. So that when they grow again that they will spread. So I kind of always break the roots up. Not towards the top, mostly towards the bottom. Because you don't want to break the growth off. And then you just kind of plant it in there. Sometimes I'll mix it with a little bit of gravel, too, or sand because they are from a warm, warm climate, that's cold in the winter, but more of a prairie. They're not used to a lot of organic material. A lot of times sand and gravel give a little more drainage, too. And then that way it'll do really well. So if you plant them in the ground I'd just leave them in the ground if you're in a cold climate. If you're in a really warm climate they probably wont make it over the winter because they actually need to get cold in the winter. So you can dig the roots up and throw them in the refrigerator for a couple months or you just could start them from seed the next year. But bee balm is a great plant to grow as long as you put it in a sunny spot, give it lots of drainage. And even trim it back here and there. Whenever the leaves or the greenery looks ratty, chop it down. A lot of times it'll grow new greenery and a lot of times you'll even get a second set of flowers. They're a great addition to your garden.
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