Sativa - Lemon Monarda – Seeds

• High ornamental value: Thanks to its long flowering period and distinctive flower shape, it adds colourful accents for many weeks.
• Culinary highlight: The leaves and flowers are edible and lend a fresh, lemony note to summer salads, desserts or cold drinks.
• Insect magnet: Lemon monarda is an excellent source of nectar for bees and, thanks to its abundance of nectar, magically attracts a wide variety of pollinators.

Cultivation & Location

Lemon monarda is an easy-to-grow plant that grows quickly and requires little care:

• Location: It thrives best in sunny to semi-shaded spots.
• Growth: The plant grows upright and reaches an impressive height of approx. 80 cm.
• Soil: It has low nutrient requirements; it thrives in normal garden soil.
• Sowing: The seeds can be sown directly outdoors or for pre-cultivation from April onwards. As it may be a light-dependent germinator, the seeds should only be covered very lightly with soil (0–1 cm).

Key planting information

• Botanical name: Monarda citriodora
• Lifespan: Annual
• Sowing depth: 0–1 cm
• Spacing within rows: 30 cm
• Spacing between rows: 30 cm
• Heat requirement: Moderate

Culinary uses

• Refreshing tea: The leaves and flowers make a delicious, lemony tea when freshly brewed or dried.
• Aromatic decoration: The pink flowers make an edible decoration for summer buffets.
• Herb: Finely chopped, the leaves are excellent with fish dishes or in herb butter.

Ecological contribution: Bee-friendly

This plant is labelled bee-friendly. At a time of dwindling biodiversity, lemon monarda offers a reliable and high-quality source of energy for pollinators. Whether honeybees or the specialised species among the over 500 native wild bees – they all benefit from the deep calyxes, which hold plenty of nectar.