Peters Purple Bee Balm

If you’re looking for a plant that will attract hummingbirds, butterflies and bees, here is one for the task. They love it!

If you want a low-maintenance perennial for a part-shade part of your landscape, this might be it.

If deer are a problem, I see claims that they don’t particularly like it, so that’s a good thing.

Plus, this particular hybrid is reportedly quite resistant to powdery mildew, bane to many other monardas.

The highly respected Missouri Botanical Garden cites this as a hybrid of Monarda fistulosa ‘Claire Grace’ and a Mexican species M. barlettii. It was found in the gardens of Texas native plant expert Peter Loos.

The plant in my photo will be new to our gardens. I just picked it up from my friend Kenneth Cranfill who had a couple of extras after his spring sales to garden centers. I have just the right spot for it at our house.

• Peters Purple grows to 3-4 ft. tall and 2-3 ft. wide.

• It does best in highly organic soils that are kept uniformly moist, never dry.

• Give it morning sun and shade in the afternoon, especially in summer.

• Prune the plants back when they finish blooming to keep them more compact and to keep the garden looking better.

• Divide the clumps every 3-4 years, both to keep it from becoming too crowded and to share extra plants with your friends.