Native Seed of the Week! - Bee balm

Native Lands Restoration Collaborative interns are digging deep to learn more about native plants and share their experiences with our community! Our Seeds of Change intern, Eliza, has been studying native seeds, how to identify, collect, clean and grow them with our experienced staff. She'll be sharing her favorite species with all of you here, on the Nature Gang blog! Today's species is bee balm (aka wild bergamot, wild oregano):

Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa) is a beautiful and extremely useful native mint plant. They are a showy 4 feet tall plant with clusters of lavender pom poms blooming on top of open branched stems. They are perennial and bloom July through September. Bee balm attracts bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators, and is a host plant for the Raspberry pyrausta butterfly. Bee balm is a well known medicinal species, commonly used to treat colds, abdominal pain, indigestion, fevers, sore throat, and more. This species also makes lovely tea!

The best way to clean bee balm seed heads is by using a small screen. Start by putting a tray under the screen so that the seeds have something to fall into. Then, just gently rub the seeds heads on top of the screen; the tiny seeds should fall out onto the tray. Even after several weeks of drying, you’ll smell the strong fragrance from this delicious mint as you work!