It always prevents teh plant from wasting energy making seed, so yes...unless you're tryiing to grow seeds.

There is often a second smaller bloom later when my monarda are deadheaded.

my rapberry wine monarda blooms continually from June until November without deadheading -- so I don't think you need to be religious about deadheading yours in order to get more flowers. But if its in a prominent location and the appearance is bothering you then you certainly can trim off the old blooms without harming the plant. Remember that monarda needs LOTS of water and give it a good drink also.

Coral Reef acts the same as Cecily's Raspberry Wine here. Bees still visit the spent flowers after the petals fall, so usually don't deadhead, and doesn't seem to slow down blooming. Consider it optional & the spent heads are still decorative. Finches love the seeds & I love watching their swaying sideways antics, so no seedlings in the several years it's been here. Looks like yours is sending up new buds, Sparky. Remember the variety? Totally agree with LOTS of water even in this muggy climate, to sidestep mildew & stimulate growth & flowering.

get rid of the crabgrass .. MIs july harvest.. lol .. i am in adrian ...

i am hoping there is not landscape fabric under the mulch ... which might mean a watering issue

snip off flowers.. and see what happens ...

sometime new plants.. dont quite perform to standard... but there is always next year ... as it looks happy enough ....

straight down pic are tough ... how tall is it??? are the new green shoots significantly outgrowing the old part of the plant... that might indicate its finally getting ESTABLISHED ... as you know.. we had a very extended cold spring in MI .. i have plants that were 4 to 6 weeks late .... and perhaps.. on some level.. yours is also behind the normal curve ...

it otherwise looks happy.. just keep it properly watered in july/august ...

ken