Wild Bergamot

Monarda fistulosa

Bird foodPollinator plant

Growing it

When	Flowers July to August
Type	wildflower
Sun	Full sun, partial shade
Water	Low, medium
Soil	pH 6–8
Hardiness	zone 3–7
Mature height	0.8 m
Mature spread	0.45 m
Spacing	0.3 m
Years to maturity	2
Bloom	Jul–Aug
Flower colour	Pink Purple read from a published flora
In bloom	July August
Native to	AB, SK

lance-shaped leaves about 8 cm long in opposite pairs

Where it has been recorded

BothSpecimensObservations

233 squares of about 28 km, each holding at least one record. A square is not a claim that the plant grows throughout it, and an unshaded square is unrecorded rather than empty. Darker squares hold more records, which follows roads and towns as much as it follows the plant. 33 herbarium specimens and 878 field observations this project may redraw. A filled dot is a pressed sheet somebody can re-examine; a hollow ring is a photograph identified by community agreement. Where the dots are dense is where people have looked, not where the plant is commonest, and empty ground is unsurveyed rather than unoccupied. How this map is made.

Which ecoregions the records fall in

Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 647 records, high confidence
Northern Continental Divide south AB: 376 records, high confidence
Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 276 records, high confidence
Fescue Grassland south AB: 262 records, high confidence
Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 152 records, high confidence
Western Alberta Upland central AB: 92 records, high confidence
Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 84 records, high confidence
Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 45 records, high confidence
Peace Lowland north AB: 14 records, medium confidence
Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 8 records, medium confidence

These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.

See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.

Documented animals

148 documented relationships.

nectar for

A Digger Bee Packer
A Leafcutter Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Aerial Yellowjacket Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Agapostemon splendens Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
American Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
American Lady Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Amphipoea americana Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ancistrocerus adiabatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Antherophagus ochraceus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Anthophora walshii Clint Otto et al. 2020
Anthrax irroratus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Aphrodite Fritillary Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Aphrodite Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Arcigera Flower Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Arctic Yellowjacket Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Argynnis idalia Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Atlantis Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Augochlorella aurata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Autographa precationis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bald-faced Hornet Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bicoloured Sweat Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Black Swallowtail Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Brachiacantha ursina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Brown-belted Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Brown-tailed Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Bumblebee-like Digger Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bumblebees Wilson & Carril 2015
Caenurgina crassiuscula Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Calligrapher Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Celery Looper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Central Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Ceratina calcarata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Clouded Sulphur Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Common Wood-Nymph Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Confused Eusarca Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Confusing Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Coral Hairstreak Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Cosmopepla lintneriana Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Cryptic Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Delicate Cycnia Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Diachrysia aereoides Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Dingy Cutworm Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eastern Calligrapher Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eastern Tailed-Blue Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eight-spotted Forester Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Epistrophella emarginata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Euodynerus foraminatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Feltia herilis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Golden Northern Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Goldenrod Soldier Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Gray Hairstreak Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Great Golden Digger Wasp Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Great Spangled Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Half-black Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Halictus confusus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Halictus ligatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Hemaris thetis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Heriades carinata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Hobomok Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Hoplitis pilosifrons Clint Otto et al. 2020
Hummingbird Clearwing Moth Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Hunt's Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Hyles gallii Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Labour Day Ant Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Lacinipolia renigera Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Lasioglossum cressonii Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Lebia viridis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Megachile frigida Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Megachile gemula Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Megachile inermis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Megachile latimanus Clint Otto et al. 2020
Melanoplus bivittatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Melissodes bimaculatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Melissodes trinodis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Monarch Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Mourning Cloak Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Nevada Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Northern Amber Bumble Bee Packer
Northern Paper Wasp Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Occidental Digger Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Orange Sulphur Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Orange-banded Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Orange-legged Furrow Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ornate Checkered Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Painted Lady Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Pearl Crescent Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Peck's Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Physocephala tibialis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Pigeon Horntail Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Polygonia interrogationis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Prochoerodes lineola Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Pseudohermonassa bicarnea Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Pyrausta orphisalis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Red Admiral Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Red-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Red-shouldered Pine Borer Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Rhingia nasica Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Rufous Hummingbird Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Satyrium calanus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Scaeva affinis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Silver-spotted Skipper Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Snowberry Clearwing Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Spotted Cucumber Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tawny-edged Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Trichiotinus assimilis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tricoloured Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Two-ranked Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Vespula consobrina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Viceroy Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Virginia Ctenucha Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Western Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Western Tiger Swallowtail Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
White Admiral Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
White-lined Sphinx Pohl et al. 2018
Yellow-banded Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Yellow-collared Scape Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org

pollen for

A Digger Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
American Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Andrena crataegi Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Atlantis Fritillary Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Bald-faced Hornet Robertson 1929
Bibio albipennis Robertson 1929
Central Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Chalcosyrphus nemorum Robertson 1929
Concave Cuckoo Nomad Bee Robertson 1929
Epistrophe emarginata Robertson 1929
Golden Northern Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Hunt's Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Hylaeus annulatus Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Lyroda subita Robertson 1929
Megachile melanophaea Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Megachile texana Robertson 1929
Orange-banded Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Pseudomasaris vespoides Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Two-ranked Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Vespula germanica Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Volucella bombylans Robertson 1929
Western Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee Clements & F. L. Long 1923

caterpillar host for

American Bumble Bee GBIF dataset acf0d7d1-d84c-4148-a208-2882fee74aab
Brown-belted Bumble Bee GBIF dataset 26255917-adf2-4cc3-853e-94dd1bc27b8d
Golden Northern Bumble Bee GBIF dataset 58d3f169-9b29-45b6-afd4-bc5ad6a13b0e

seed for

American Goldfinch Poelen et al. 2014

Also worth knowing

Safety

Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety

Edible parts

Leaves, flowers

Buying it

About $8–$16 per plant (estimate), sometimes in big-box garden sections. Estimate (herb default); AB retail as of 2026

Where these numbers came from

Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate