Did nipping the tops off of my bee balm ruin them?
"I started bee balm in my garden last year. It came back beautifully, until I nipped the tops off. Now they don't look like they will flower. Did I make a mistake in nipping them? I thought this would make them fuller and lower to the ground."
Depending on how much you cut them back and how late in spring you did it, you may have prevented your bee balm (Monarda didyma) from flowering this year. These plants form their buds as they grow in late spring and early summer. You were on the right track, though: You can pinch back the tips of new growth of late-summer-flowering perennials in early spring. Doing so will encourage the plants to have a fuller, more compact habit and will also make them bloom a little later in the season. If you do this, take care not to prune after early spring, and take off only the tips of the new growth.
