Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Bee Balm Help

I'm putting my lack of knowledge right out here today and asking for help.

Early this season I purchased eight perennial bee balm plants.





At least that's what the tag in each pot said they were.



Plant in sun or partial sun. Check. Blooms in summer. Well, not yet. Prefers consistent soil moisture. Okay. Striking flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Great. Fragrant leaves make a delicious tea. Good. Divide every 2-3 years to control spread. Wonderful as I wanted them to fill in this rather bare space so I wouldn't have to plant annuals every year. Height: Grows to 30". HA!





These guys have been planted out for at least six weeks. They look exactly the same as the day I planted them. No growth whatsoever.






From what I can tell by the picture on the tag, the leaves look kinda the same . . . except mine sure don't have any "stalk" or "stem." They are just this low cluster of leaves about 2" high at the most.



Do I really have bee balm plants or did I buy something that was mislabeled? Do I just have to be patient and wait longer for them to start growing? Are they unhappy where I planted them? Have my thumbs turned black? Help.



3 comments:

Erin said...

Well...I put bee balm in a container last year and it didn't do much of anything! I left the plastic pot in the garden all winter and when I went out in March/April to clean up the beds, the darn thing was growing like crazy, and I ended up with 3 ft tall gorgeous blooms THIS year!! So I guess I'm going to put it in the ground and hope it spreads next year. Don't give up on it!

RuthieJ said...

The leaves look like my bee balm Mama Pea. You can tell for sure by the fragrance of the leaves. Mine get a lot of sun on the southeast side of the house. I bet yours are just taking some time to get their roots spread out in the good dirt--then they will really take off!

Mama Pea said...

Erin & Ruthie - Okay, ladies, you've convinced me to keep the faith . . . and the bee balm plants. I can hardly wait for those 30-36" tall gorgeous blooms!