Description of Mimulus guttatus (Monkey Flower)

Mimulus guttatus is common monkey flower, a moisture-loving plant with bright yellow, spotted blooms. It’s a strong choice for bog edges and stream sides where soil stays cool and damp.

Appearance

It forms leafy stems and produces yellow flowers with red spotting in the throat. It usually sits around 20 to 40cm tall, but it can spread into a low colony in wet soil.

Care Guide

It likes steady moisture and it often flowers over a long spell when conditions are right.

• Sun: Sun to part shade. Light shade can be helpful in hot spells.
• Soil: Moist, fertile soil with organic matter.
• Water: Keep consistently damp through the growing season.
• Deadheading: Removing spent blooms keeps it flowering longer.
• Propagation: It can self-seed and also roots from creeping stems in damp soil.

In very mild areas it can persist for years. In colder or drier spots it may behave as a short-lived perennial.

Suitability for Bog Garden

This is great for the front edge of a bog garden, where you can see the flower detail. It also works beside overflow channels and damp steps.

If you want it contained, keep it in a small pot sunk into the bog and lift sections when it starts to wander.

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