Monarda 'Cambridge Scarlet'

like the little tuffty heads on these

Oooh I have this too Tate....isnt it lovely......

Oh, they are so easy and undemanding!.. Nearly perfect flowering perennial. I love to use its seedpods in dried arrangments. On Christmas I paint them with red and burgundy color spray paints and then add tiny amount of glitter with a spray can - just a little bit. Looks magical!

I used C*******s word above. I am sorry, I didn't know it's taboo here.

Ooh have to try that Tate have some monarda in the garden, busy making C*******s cards at the moment.

I bought some pink Monarda at the local flower show last weekend, having bought some red plants last year and they are doing well in our very sandy soil. They have such a beautiful raggy, friendly look to them. I too would like to decorate them for Christmas and wonder, what is the best stage at which to cut them? Do you let them die on the stalk, or pick them and let them dry?
They survived our prolonged winter in the north of England.

I hadn't heard of Monarda until very recently and they
now seem to be everywhere. They reach a super height.

Oh, I just let them reach their full glory, cut them and hang upside down as a bunch, and let them dry well. Hang them away from direct sunlight and moisture.

When dry and stiff, turn them heads up, and you can paint and decorate. This technique works well for many other plants that have stiff stalks and prominent flower heads/cones like Rudbeckia, Purple coneflower, Mophead Hydrangea, Oriental Poppy seedheads, thistles, an array of ornamental grasses that feature bold fluffy seedheads etc. etc. etc. Posibilities are endless.

Too much fun.