BLOG.JESSIEKEITH.COM: Lovely Late-season Monarda Hybrids

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In 1995, Jessie became a Master Gardener, accepted a job as a landscape designer and had a farmer's market booth selling garden flowers. The following year she attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana where she graduated with honors in 1999 with a BS in Public Horticulture. At Purdue, she worked for two years as garden intern at The Purdue University Horticulture Gardens and was mentored by Dr. Harrison Flint and Dr. Michael Dana. She also served as undergraduate teacher’s assistant in woody and herbaceous plant identification and introductory horticulture classes.

In 1999, she accepted a yearlong position as the curatorial intern at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA under the tutelage of celebrated curator and author, Dr. Tomasz Anisko. Graduate school at Michigan State University followed. There she studied systematic botany and completed her MS degree in the winter of 2003. Shortly after graduation, she accepted an internship at The American Gardener magazine, the journal of The American Horticultural Society, where she received guidance from editor-in-chief, David Ellis, and distinguished scientist and horticulturist, Dr. H. Marc Cathey.

Jessie taught horticulture for two years at Williamson Free School in Media, Pennsylvania before pursuing a career in garden writing and plant photography. She began to work as content editor for Learn2grow.com in 2007 and has written articles for publications such as The Old House Journal, The Green Scene, What’s Up! Annapolis? and The Herbarist. She most recently served as one-time horticultural editor for Wilder Quarterly.

Today, Jessie lives in Wilmington, Delaware with her husband Knut, daughters Franziska and Gabriella, two geriatric cats, and thousands of garden plants.

BLOG.JESSIEKEITH.COM: Lovely Late-season Monarda Hybrids

Lovely Late-season Monarda Hybrids

Years ago I planted a suite of Monarda species closely related to Monarda punctata that have flourished and hybridized in my Delaware garden. The plants were procured from graduate school field-collection trips in Texas, Michigan, Florida and the East Coast for my Master's research which culminated in a thesis titled Monarda Section Cheilyctus: Patterns of Speciation and Endemism . Three of the species initially planted were the rare Texas endemics, Monarda fruticulosa, M. maritima and M. viridissima, which have proven surprisingly hardy.

Many interesting and diverse hybrids spring up every year from these reproductively compatible species. Some bloom early in the season, starting late in June, but many don't begin to flower until late-summer or early fall. These late-bloomers are clearly progeny of the fall-blooming species, M. maritima and M. viridissima.

Photos are the best means of capturing the diversity of these lovely late-season Monarda. Some have bright-pink tiered bracts while others have ivory or white. Heights, bloom times and floriferousness varies widely.

The fall-blooming, pink-bracted beauty popping up from the Mexican hairgrass is certainly a Monarda punctata x M. viridissima hybrid as it maintains characteristics of both.

Loads of ivory-bracted Monarda punctata hybrids add unique charm to the front bed. They began blooming in late-August and will continue until frost.

This colorful foot-high Monarda happened to pop up in the front of one of my beds. Its appearance suggests M. maritima and M. viridissima parentage. Who knows where the compact height came from.