If you want to attract hummingbirds and beautiful butterflies to your yard, the flower from last week’s puzzler may be just the thing you need. Monarda didyma, or Bee Balm, is a hummingbird magnet! It is a perennial that grows in full sun, has wonderfully fragrant leaves (it’s in the mint family) and comes in several different colors, including, pink, red, purple and white. Bee Balm normally grows 2-4 feet tall, but sometimes can grow up to 6 feet.
Did you get it right in last week’s puzzler? Did you recognize the bird sitting in the middle of the stalks as a SONG SPARROW? If so, good for you! Sparrows can be challenging to identify.
Some varieties of bee balm were used by the Oswego Indians of New York to make tea from the leaves of the plant, giving it another common name of Oswego Tea.
While we’re talking about flowers and especially, hummingbird and butterfly attractants, let’s do one another RED flower.
