Monarda

I just love to say Monarda.  It is such a funny word.

The genus Monarda was named in honor of Nicolas Bautista Monardes, a 16th century Spanish physician and botanist. Indians living along the Oswego River in New York introduced early settlers to a tea made from dried bee balm. The settlers called it "Oswego tea" and began making it themselves. Oswego tea was popular with early colonists when tea became scarce after the Boston Tea Party.

Common Name:

Bee Balm, Wild Bergamont, Oswego Tea, Horsemint, Bergamont

The flowers of this aromatic herb are reminiscent of fireworks or a pompom, with the center bursting forth and the back petals radiating all around. Its flowers come in pink, red, mauve, purple and white and are particularly attractive to butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

Today is Outdoor Wednesday. Please check out the others here. Thanks to Susan at a Southern Daydreamer.

My garden flowers

Asiatic Lily
Lilium

What makes it an Asiatic Lily?

1. Flowers upright, cup-shaped with recurved tips, 4-5 inches in diameter.

2. Stems 20-36 inches long, 3-12 flowers per stem depending on species and cultivar.

3. Plant is a herbaceous perennial from a bulb, classed as a monocotyledon, leaves mostly parallel veined.

4. Slight or no flower fragrance.

Asiatic Lilies have advantages as well. Because they are not scented, they are non-allergenic, and their smaller blossoms make them more appropriate for mixed lily bouquets and table arrangements.

Monarda, a plant that is also known as beebalm, bergamot or sometimes Oswego tea was named for Nicholas Monardes (1493-1588) a physician and botanist living in Seville, Spain.


The common name bergamot comes from the resemblance of the plant fragrance to the bergamot orange.

Beebalm comes from its ability to attract and apparently soothe bees.

The Oswego Indians of the eastern United States shared their fondness for Monarda didyma as a tea with colonial settlers. Soon after the Boston Tea Party, a shortage of imported tea forced the colonists to substitute monarda as a tea during the shortage. The Shakers learned to use the tea for treating colds and sore throats, and other settlers inhaled the fumes of steamed plants to clear sinuses. If you read the list of ingredients in Earl Grey tea now, you’ll see Monarda or beebalm listed on the packaging.

These last two photos are orange coneflowers.

Echinacea
Coneflower

The prominent, bristly seed head inspired the generic name of the plant, taken from the Greek word echinos meaning hedgehog.

Native American plains Indians relied on echinacea as an all-purpose antiseptic. The Sioux tribe valued the root as a remedy for snake bite, the Cheyenne tribe chewed the root to quench thirst, and another tribe washed their hands in a decoction of echinacea to increase their tolerance of heat.

In the late 1800s, it was included in a cure-all that was bottled and patented by Dr. H.C.F. Meyer and promoted as Meyer's Blood Purifier. However, the growing field of medical research did not take Dr. Meyer's patented cure-all seriously.

It was only after a family business, Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, produced its own Echinacea products that it gained widespread popularity in America as a treatment for colds and infections. However, with the advent of modern antibiotics during the 1920s, Echinacea's usefulness as a healing herb declined.

Today is outdoor Wednesday. Please check out the others here, thanks to Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.