Botanical designation and cultivar denomination:

Botanical classification:Monardahybrid.

Variety denomination: ‘Leading Lady Razzberry’.

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES UNDER 37 CFR 1.77(B)(6)

The first non-enabling disclosure of the claimed plant was on Dec. 1, 2020 the claimed plant was displayed with a non-enabling photograph and brief description in a website operated by Walters Gardens, Inc., and on May 21, 2021 as a non-enabling photograph and brief description in the 2021-2022 Catalog by Walters Gardens, Inc., who obtained the plant and all information relating thereto, from the inventor. The first sales of the new plant were on May 3, 2021 from Walters Gardens, Inc. to Chrissy's Greenhouse and Home Nursery. No plants ofMonarda‘Leading Lady Razzberry’ have been sold, in this country or anywhere in the world, nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made more than one year prior the filing date of this application, and such sale or disclosure within one year was either derived directly or indirectly from the inventor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the new and distinct cultivar of Bee Balm, botanically known asMonarda‘Leading Lady Razzberry’, and hereinafter also referred to solely by the cultivar ‘Leading Lady Razzberry’ or the “new plant.”Monarda‘Leading Lady Razzberry’ was the result of a controlled pollination in the summer of Jul. 24, 2014 in trial garden at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Mich., USA. The female parent is a proprietary, unnamed, unreleased hybrid known as 12-21-4 (not patented) and the specific male parent is a proprietary, unnamed, unreleased hybrid known as 12-59-7 (not patented). The new plant was separated out for further evaluation in the summer of 2016 in the full sun trial gardens of the same nursery and assigned the breeder code 14-08-1. The new plant is the result of a planned breeding program of the inventor to produce new colors of flowers with increased mildew resistance and improved compact habit. The new plant has been asexually propagated since 2016 by division and by basal stem cuttings at the same nursery in the greenhouses in Zeeland, Mich., and the subsequent generations of asexually propagated plants found to be stable and identical to the original selection.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PLANT

Monarda‘Leading Lady Razzberry’ is unique from its parents and all other Bee Balm plants known to the inventor. The nearest comparison cultivars known to the inventor are: ‘Pardon My Cerise’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,234 ‘Pardon My Purple’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,170, ‘Cherry Pops’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 27,618 and ‘Leading Lady Pink’ U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 17/300,361, copending.

‘Pardon My Cerise’ has deeper cherry-red flowers and the habit is slightly taller. ‘Pardon My Purple’ has flowers of a fuchsia-purple color and is slightly taller in habit. ‘Cherry Pops’ has a taller habit and the flower color is cherry-red. ‘Leading Lady Razzberry’ flowers earlier than the three above listed comparison cultivars. ‘Leading Lady Pink’ has a similar habit and flowering period, but the flowers are bright pink with lighter interiors that show off the darker purplish-red spotting. The leaves of ‘Pardon My Cerise’ and ‘Cherry Pops’ are slightly wider.

The female parent is more open and taller in habit and later to flower than the new plant and darker pink in flower color. The male parent has a shorter habit and the flowers are more purple-colored.

Monarda‘Leading Lady Razzberry’ is distinct from all Bee Balm plants known to the inventor. The following are traits of the new plant that in combination distinguish it from all other Bee Balm known to the inventor:1. Short, compact, clumping, upright mound that is winter-hardy habit;2. Deep-green, moderately-glossy, powdery mildew-tolerant foliage;3. Leaves and bracts below the flowers develop a purplish cast;4. Compact, bright, raspberry-purple flowers with darker purplish-red spots;5. Flowering over a five-week-long period beginning early June;6. Flowering in dense verticils that nearly completely cover the plant in peak bloom.

