Bee Balm

This is another one where I'm waiting patiently (or not so) for a bloom.  I didn't know what it was even.  Sue gave me this plant.  I asked her what this was and she said, "Bee Balm."  Kind of a scary name if you ask me.

It's the green, non-blooming, plant in the  middle of the picture.  The top, red blooms are firecracker plants, which I'll write more about in another post.

So, Bee Balm.  I did a google image search and - Oh My!  Bloom, please!  Looks like it will be wicked cool.  Sue said that it's going to be red if it blooms.  They bloom late summer, so I might still have a chance at a bloom.

Butterflies, hummingbirds and bees "covet the tubular flowers."  It also goes by:  Horsemint, wild bergamot and Oswego tea.  I thought at first it might be a mint, because of the leaves.

It will grow 2 to 4 feet tall and tolerates wet soil, but it's susceptible to powdery mildew disease and it can be invasive - taking over a garden.  Another one to keep an eye on.

Pro's:  Easy to care, low maintenance, multiples quickly, attracts the pretties.

It prefers full sun to light shade (it's located under the juniper tree and I have to wonder if it gets enough sun... looks green enough, so I guess it's ok).

Con:  Someone told me on Facebook that they grew bee balms and it never bloomed.  That's discouraging.  I'll stay hopeful.  If it blooms, I'll update this post.

UPDATE!!!  We have bloomage!!  Picture taken today after a nice afternoon rain.... bud just starting to bloom :)

The firecracker plant is just going crazy right now and the bee balm kind of disappears into the red, but here are some more shots.  If you look at the third picture, towards the bottom right, there's a second bee balm starting to bloom!!