Aquarius

Season Overview

Description

The Indian nettle 'Aquarius' is a beautiful, violet-pink flowering variety. The simple, ball-shaped flowers are medium-sized and appear from July to September. The (bot.) Monarda fistulosa 'Aquarius' delights the gardener with its beauty and the bees with its food supply. This beautiful plant is an important food source for beneficial bees. The Indian nettle is a popular perennial in the border, outdoors and in the scented garden. It reaches a height of 80 to 100 centimeters. In diameter, it reaches up to 70 centimeters. When planting in a group, the gardener leaves a distance of 45 centimetres between the individual perennials. In this way, there is room for four to six plants on one square meter. The plant grows bushy and upright. Indian nettles spread via runners. It is therefore advisable to ensure sufficient space when planting. The gardener should loosen particularly clayey soil with gravel or coarse sand. This prevents waterlogging. Adding compost in spring ensures a long flower life and lush blooms for the hardy Monarda.

Growing tips

Indian nettles enchant with their fringed, dense whorls of flowers. They are made up of many small, individual, violet-pink flowers. A large number of insects are attracted by the splendor of the flowers from July to September. Many varieties of Indian nettle struggle with the troublesome infestation of mildew. Aquarius' is an extremely hardy variety that is not susceptible to this fungus. Much to the delight of the gardener! The Indian nettle drops its rough, matt, finely hairy, egg-shaped and serrated leaves in late fall. It adorns itself with a new deep green coat of leaves the following spring. Plant lovers should prune these perennials in early spring. To counteract the natural urge to spread rapidly, it is advisable to divide the plants. The best time to do this is in spring or fall, directly after flowering. On sandy soils, the plants senesce more quickly. In this case, regular division is recommended after five years at the latest. Rarely is a plant known by so many names. Under the German name 'Indian nettle', the (bot.) Monarda fistulosa is known to many gardeners as golden balm, bergamot or bee balm. The German name refers to the original environment of this enchanting perennial. It originates from North America and long before this beautiful plant found its way into our gardens, it was used by Native Americans as a medicinal plant. The Oswego Indians used the aromatic, nettle-like leaves to make a tea to treat colds. The native habitat of Indian nettles offers them plenty of space in open areas. They therefore prefer sunny areas on dry to fresh, nutrient-rich and well-drained soil. They also do wonderfully well in full sun if the soil is sufficiently fresh. However, the gardener must ensure that the soil does not allow standing water, as the roots of the Indian nettle cannot tolerate this.

Details

Light requirement

Semi-shaded

Water requirement

Moist

Soil

Medium (loamy)

Nutrient requirement

Medium

Plant distance

45 cm

Row spacing

44 cm

Seeding depth

0.5 cm