Monarda punctata | spotted bee balm

Regular price: $8.99
Regular price
Sale price: $8.99

Shipping calculated at checkout.

4" pot

order now for FALL 2025 shipping or pickup

Grown from seed in living soil without the use of pesticides, chemicals, or carbon fuels.

Monardas are workhorse perennials with showy flowers, colorful bracts, stiff stems, and wonderfully scented leaves. They attract droves of pollinators, grow happily on poor soil, and lend interest to the winter garden. We would not want to garden without them. That said, we have held off on offering them for sale until now as powdery mildew can be a problem. The best solution we have found is to allow plenty of air circulation, divide them regularly, and grow them in full sun on dry, well-drained soil.

Spotted bee balm (Monarda punctata) in an east coast native perennial that puts on a real show in summer when the pink, yellow, and green flowers and bracts burst open. Happily, deer tend to avoid the aromatic foliage.

Zones: 3 to 8
Family: Lamiaceae
Type: Perennial
Height: 18 to 36 in.
Spread: 12 to 24 in.
Exposure: full sun to part shade
Soil Conditions: dry, average, well-drained
Bloom Time: June to August
Bloom Color: pink, yellow, purple
Native Range: eastern, central, and southern United States

Special Characteristics

Deer-resistant
Drought resistant
Aromatic

image credits

Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dinkum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ordering information

Preorders

You may place your order anytime to reserve plants for fall 2025 shipment. If you place multiple orders, we will combine plants into one box (or as many as needed) and any extra shipping charges will be refunded.

We will resume shipping plants as soon as temperatures cool in our location and yours.

We will check in with you a week before shipping to make sure you receive your plants at a time that is convenient for you.

Shipping

Live plants ship in spring and fall only. Plants may ship dormant, depending on variety and season. Shipping costs are most reasonable when bundling like size plants.

4-inch: 1-6 plants ship for $15.00 / 7-13 plants ship for $18.00 / 14-30 plants ship for $40.00
1-gal: 1-2 plants ship for $18.00 / 3-4 plants ship for $25.00 / 5-6 plants ship for $40.00
trees & shrubs: $27.00-$40.00 each, height dependent
seeds: $6.75 or free with orders over $15.00

We regret that we cannot ship internationally or to the following states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, or WA.

Nursery pick up

Plants can be collected from the nursery Monday through Sunday from 10am-4pm in Spring, Summer, and Fall. We prefer 24 hour notice to get your order together and will email you when ready for collection.

Plant Sizes

We most commonly use the following pot sizes for perennials:

4-inch pot: 3.5" H x 3.5" W x 3.5" D
2-quart pot: 6" H x 5.25" W x 5.25" D
1-gallon pot: 6.87" H x 8" Dia (this is a true one gallon pot, not the smaller 'trade' one gallon pot used by many nurseries)

Check out our illustrated pot size guide here.

Representative trees & shrubs are photographed in their pots and posted on each plant page.

Sustainability

Sustainability is at the heart of what we do at The Old Dairy. We grow all of our plants outdoors without the use of chemicals, fertilizers, carbon fuels, or peat.

Many of our perennials are grown in the ground and dug upon order (this is especially true for larger sizes). This practice allows us to grow stronger, healthier plants using native soil, and ultimately reduces our impact on the environment.

Our open-pollinated seeds are collected from plants in our mother beds, which have never been treated with chemicals or sprays of any kind.

Read all about our sustainable practices here.