Peter Dowdall: All you need to know about growing bergamot

Bergamot (botanical name monarda) or bee balm is easy to grow once given the right conditions

A hummingbird in flight feeding on bee balm or monarda. The herb that we all know as bergamot has the botanical name monarda and is native to North America. File pictures 

The Native Americans knew a thing or two and we would do well not to learn from those who went before us. They grew bergamot, not for its aesthetic appeal as we do now in our gardens but for the plant’s many medicinal uses, including as an antiseptic for skin infections and minor cuts and abrasions.

Some drank it as a tea to cure headaches and to treat a range of ailments from colds to digestive issues. This explains one of the popular names for the plant, Oswego tea, after the Oswego Native Americans.

Nowadays we use the leaves and flowers which can be brewed into a tea that is believed to soothe sore throats, alleviate fever, and aid digestion. Additionally, the essential oil extracted from bergamot has been used in aromatherapy to reduce stress and anxiety.

The herb that we all know as bergamot has the botanical name monarda and is native to North America. The plant was named after the famous Spanish physician and botanist of the 16th century, Nicolás Monardes.

It’s easy to grow once you give it the right conditions. It likes a well-drained soil with a neutral to slightly acidic pH.

Bee balm.

Although it can tolerate partial shade, I have found that growing it in full sun is far more successful as it struggles to flower well in shadier positions.

The biggest challenge when growing bergamot is the fungal infection, powdery mildew to which it is quite susceptible. Grow it in a nice open position where this is good air circulation. When watering the plant, try and avoid watering the leaves and stems as this will encourage the development of mildew.

If the ground is too wet, then it won’t flower as well as it should and will in time succumb to fungal rot. Equally, if it is too dry, it will wilt, the flowers wont come to anything and it becomes weak and vulnerable to powdery mildew.

Bee balm or monarda was grown by Native Americans for its medicinal properties.

There are some varieties which offer quite good resistance to mildew such as Monarda Gardenview Scarlet, which as the name suggests, will produce masses of bright, scarlet-red flowers. Violet Queen is another resistant form which flowers in shades of pale purple/mauve. I have seen a truly beautiful form, Monarda Danish Dark. Bred by a Danish nurseryman, its flowers are the most beautiful, rich, dark purple reaching one metre in height.

I’m not sure yet how it is for mildew resistance, but I see that the Potting Shed Nursery in Camolin, in Wexford, has listed it in its website as “coming soon” so keep an eye out. It’s certainly one that will be trying out. 

Once it is happy with its position, it will thrive and form a decent-sized clump relatively quickly. The flower stems will reach between 70cm and a metre in height depending on the variety and will have a similar-sized spread.

As Monarda matures, it tends to grow out. In other words the centre of the clump can become sparse or even completely bare with the growth outside, in an ever-increasing circle. I would advise lifting and dividing every few years to rejuvenate the clump and maintain the vigour of the plant.

Another common name for monarda is bee balm because of an important feature of the plant. Its shaggy petalled flowers are rich in nectar and loved by bees. It’s a great plant to introduce to encourage pollinators such as bees and butterflies into the garden.

It flowers from mid-summer and if you deadhead the flowers which have gone over, to encourage continuous blooming, you can continue the period of blossoming right into autumn.

Though it is quite showy in flower, I always tend to think of it as an understated plant. It stands tall with and elegant structure and texture. Because of its propensity to suffer from mildew, I like to grow it in and around other, lower growing plants which can obscure the foliage but over which the flowers are on show. Try growing it with some achillea or lavender for such an effect.

In the kitchen, bergamot offers a unique, citrus flavour and aroma and probably the most popular way to use bergamot is in a tea. Fresh or dried bergamot leaves can be steeped to make a refreshing tea and it is a tea that gives monarda its common name bergamot. Earl Grey tea is made from the oil of the bergamot orange which gives it the distinctive flavour and the leaves of monarda have a very similar scent, hence the name.