Monarda

It’s everywhere I look this year! Don’t know why bee balm is so plentiful…perhaps all the rain? Monarda is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The genus is endemic to North America. Common names include bergamot, bee balm, horsemint, and oswego tea, the first being inspired by the fragrance of the leaves, which is reminiscent of bergamot orange. (Wikipedia) Indigenous Americans regarded bee balm as both a medicinal and a culinary herb. The leaves were brewed into teas, which were used to improve digestion and to treat coughs, colds, fever, anxiety, pain and discomfort, and melancholy. A pharmacy…right outside my front door!