Dan

What Dan says! Monarda almost always has mildew to some degree—usually bad! I used to try to not sell it to people, but they’d see the flowers and want it even after I warned them. So as long as you want to have bee balm, I think you’re going to just have to put up with the mildew. In my experience you won’t find anything at all that will even put a dent in powdery mildew on Monarda! (There are now what’s called "mildew resistant" varieties, but by looking at them, I could never tell the resistant varieties from the non-resistant varieties!)

BUT—Do you still have the plant tag that came in the pot? If you do, what’s the variety name? Some varieties that are described as "red" are really more pink or bright pink or something besides what I’d call red—kind of like "blue" perennials are almost always purple! But there really are "red" beebalms, and if you can tell me the variety name I can probably tell you if it should be RED or not. If you got one that really should be red and it’s blooming pink, I’d recommend digging it up—with the flower(s)—and taking it back over there along with the tag that came in the pot. They don’t guarantee plants after they’re sold—they have signs up saying that—but if you bought one thing and got something else, I’d expect them to stand behind that and replace it for you. You could call first—ask for John—and tell him what happened. Of if you just go, look for John inside or Cheryl out in perennials (have somebody call her on the radio if she’s there but not out in the retail area), and tell her about the problem. (Tell him/her Dee suggested you try to get your problem resolved.)

Post the variety name if you can find the tag.

Skybird

Dan