There are many colorful Agastache cultivars to choose from. Some of the most popular blue and purple flowering selections include “Black Adder,” which features reddish purple flowers.
Summer is known for the flowers that brighten up the landscapes, and many gardeners think that there are not that many flowers that bloom in the autumn.
The good news is there are some wonderful ones that begin to bloom in June and continue to bloom until the end of October or the first frost.
Agastache, commonly called Giant Hyssop, is a native herbaceous perennial or a nativar that thrives in full sun and very well drained soils. Depending on the species or cultivar, plants generally grow in upright 2-3-foot-tall clumps of fragrant blue-green leaves. When the leaves are crushed, they may have a minty or anise-like fragrance. This aromatic foliage helps make Agastache less appealing to hungry deer and rabbits.
The showy, sometimes fragrant tiny two lipped tubular flowers are produced on terminal spikes. Depending on the species or cultivar, the flowers may be white, light pink, red, orange, blue, light and dark purple. Both the leaves and flowers are edible and can be dried to brew as an herbal tea.
The size and shape of the tiny flowers make Agastache especially attractive to hummingbirds, butterflies, moths and many other beneficial pollinators. Once they go to seed the goldfinches’ sparrows and other songbirds enjoy feeding on the seeds.. There are many colorful Agastache cultivars to choose from. Some of the most popular blue and purple flowering selections include ‘Blue Fortune’ which produces 4-inch-long periwinkle blue flower spikes, Black Adder’ with reddish purple flowers and ‘Honeybee Blue with pale lavender blue flower spikes. “Purple Haze’ produces hazy blueish-purple flowers, while ‘Blue Bayou’ has soft lavender-blue flowers.
For white flowers, gardeners can choose Agastache Mexicana White or Agastache rugosa Alba. Pink flowering selections include ‘Pink Pearl’ with light pink with dark pink buds, ‘Ava’ with rose pink flowers and raspberry buds, ‘Raspberry Summer’ with raspberry pink flowers, and ‘Red Happiness’ with bright red flowers, ‘Kudos Ambrosia’ is especially interesting because its flower spikes change color as they mature, beginning cream-colored, then developing light orange tones before finishing in a lovely rose pink. Beelicious®\] produces light pink flowers accented by vibrant burgundy buds.
For gardeners who enjoy coral and orange flowers, ‘Firebird’ produces fragrant coral-orange flowers, and Poquito Orange™ has soft orange flowers along with licorice scented foliage.
All of these colorful summer and fall blooming Agastache selections can thrive on the Eastern shore when planted in well drained soils.
Their long blooming season provides gardeners with months of beautiful color while also providing an important source of food for hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators before the cold winds of winter.
(Editor’s Note: Ginny Rosenkranz is a commercial horticulture specialist with the University of Maryland Extension.)
