My Favorite Wildflower - a Mint Bergamot

I have searched high and low trying to identify this gem of my garden - sparse though the garden may be.  It is honestly magnificent and a real joy each year.  I have gone to dozens of nurseries and flower shops asking for help in identifying this gem - only to be disappointed. 

The other day I was leafing through a wildflower book, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States by Steven Clements and Carol Gracie (2006 Oxford University Press www.oup.com) - and THERE IS WAS!  It is especially critical that I find this flower since I seem to have lost it this year - due to a late spring drought and overly exuberant weeding this summer.  But now I know how to replace it for next year.

It is from the Mint family, perhaps a Wild or Purple Bergamot?  To be safe, I'll plant both to be sure.   This plant is definitely hairy - and the Purple Bergamot is cited to be nearly hairless - while the Wild Bergamot is described as hairy.  This flower has hair nearly everywhere. 

The colors are amazing and it is very interesting to watch/photograph it flower from start to finish.  So, I believe I have a Monarda fistulosa (wild  bergamot) or Monarda media (purple bergamot).