Shaggy crown-like whorls of tubular flowers in scarlet, deep red, rich pink, rose and white, on stems of 90 to 120cm above foliage that smells unmistakably of Earl Grey. That is not a coincidence; the bergamot oil in the leaves is the same note.There is some history in it. After the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when American colonists stopped buying British tea, this is what they drank instead, which is why it is still called Oswego tea. The young leaves make a decent herbal tea and the flowers are edible with the same flavour. For bumblebees it is one of the best things you can grow; the nectar tubes are deep and an established clump hums through a July afternoon.It also breaks the usual perennial rule. Monarda wants damp, heavy ground and grows happily in moisture-retentive clay or beside a pond, where most cottage perennials would rot. In dry soil it gets powdery mildew badly, which is disfiguring rather than fatal but not pleasant. Give it moisture, give it space for air to move, and divide it every three years.
