Bergamot

£5.99

Position: full sun or partial shade
Soil: fertile, moist, well-drained soil
Rate of growth: average
Flowering period: July to September
Flower colour: rose pink
Other features: fresh or dried leaves make a delicious tea
Hardiness: fully hardy
Whorls of rose pink flowers with pink tinged bracts from July to September and aromatic, mid-green leaves. This pretty, rose pink bergamot is an ideal, long flowering plant for the middle of the border. Highly attractive to bees, it looks lovely planted in drifts, as a backdrop to a sea of hardy, semi-evergreen geraniums. Garden care: Lift and divide large clumps in early April. Resist cutting bergamot back in autumn since the stiff, vertical stems look good all winter. These plants are very susceptible to powdery mildew, and while this rarely causes long term damage it can look unsightly towards the end of the summer. You can help reduce this by applying a 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted organic matter around each plant in spring and autumn.

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