Wild Bergamot

Wild Bergamot One of the earlier summer blooming native plants in our garden is Wild Bergamot (Monarda Fistulosa). Also known as beebalm, it’s in the mint family. It usually stays in bloom throughout the summer. The flowers are lavender, pink or white and are a little over an inch (3 cm) across. Wild Bergamot is well loved by several species of bees and bumble bees in our garden and is occasionally visited by resident and migrant hummingbirds. The seeds provide food for birds in the fall and through the early winter. Several Indigenous healing traditions used beebalm leaves to treat respiratory and digestive ailments. Tea made from the leaves has flavours that are a combination of oregano and mint. This image was made by stacking 35 photos made with a macro lens to achieve a greater portion of the image in focus. What I find most interesting about the resulting photo is the way it shows flower development for the species. The blooms in the upper part of the photo are at peak maturity. Working down in the photo there are blooms that are not quite open and then developing green flower buds at the bottom of the photo.