Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Thursday - July 04, 2013
From: austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Herbs/Forbs
Title: Red beebalm in Austin, TX.
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
Dear Mr.Smarty Plants - I purchased a bee balm plant from my favorite Austin nursery - Natural Gardner, and so was accessing your site for growing suggestions. My bee balm is red, and I didn't see any red bee balms among the pictures or in the description of this plant. Do I have a bee balm?? Its flowers look identical to the ones on this website, just red. Thanks so much!ANSWER:
Yes you may have beebalm, but you also have a typo. The name beebalm is all one word.
If you go to the Wildflower Center’s Web Page and move the cursor to the Explore Plants button, you will get a pull down menu listing several features. Click on Explore Plants, which is at the top of the list, and you will get the “Explore Plants” page. In the green box where it says” Search Native Plant Database”, type in the word beebalm , and you will see a box with a list of 20 plants whose names contain the word beebalm.
Scarlet beebalm seems like a good choice, so click on that name, and click the go button. You will get the NPIN page for Monarda didyma (Scarlet beebalm) which has a description of the plant along with images that you can compare with your plant.
If you had clicked on Redpurple beebalm, you would be disappointed.
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