Monarda `Jacob Cline'

This bergamot has red, hooked flowers that remind Claire Austen of a cockerel’s comb. It was first discovered in a garden in Georgia USA and was named after Nicholas Monardes, a doctor from Seville who wrote a book in 1569 about the medicinal plants of the New World. It is a member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family so has edible flowers with a lip, or labiatae in Latin. This plant is easy to grow although like all Mondardas can suffer from mildew in the summer if the soil is too dry. It is very insect-friendly, hence its common name of Beebalm.