Re: Orange flowers, agastache

In a message dated 8/11/02 10:00:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
genebush@otherside.com writes:

<< western in origins and not fond of our cold wet winters. I finally settled
 on a recommendation for a seed broker I do business with. A. foeniculum, or
 Anise hyssop, is supposed to be a eastern species and hardy to zone 4. >>

I have grown this species and since I did not use a cultivar but raised it 
from seed, I got great big green bushes with very small blue flowers.  I have 
seen it grown in demonstration  herb gardens though I do not know it's use.  
Grown from seed, it can be sort of weedy.  There is another species for the 
East, A. rugosum.  This one seems to have much larger flowers in proportion 
to the greenery.  Also blue and scented.

The same year I also grew Galego officinalis.  This one got to be around five 
feet high and the flowers were about 1/2 inch when you could see them.   It 
is around in seed catalogs.  So if you are thinking of trying some plants new 
to you, it may worth a search on images to see what you are going to get.

The western type agastaches are much better bloomers, covered with flowers 
and bloom for months.  Some of the aurantiaca hybrids have good looking grey 
foliage.  These western plants need full sun.  The colors are more varied.  
The foliage is scented, strongly mint.

Aurantiaca hybrids can be used as annual if you have a warm, well drained 
space for them.  This is the one species I keep in a container.  I don't know 
if it is long lived ( third year with one plant for me)  but it is easy to 
keep over.  It will live dormant and nearly bone dry all winter in a 
container coming to life with warmth and water.  The plant I have would be 
judged as orange until you look closely and there is a blue base to each 
flower.  In a container it blooms much earlier from the warmer soil and 
cannot suffer from drowning should it be that kind of year.  For me it blooms 
the entire summer, then the summers are short here.

We have them in specialty nurseries now but you would not find one to buy at 
petunia nurseries.   Some extra work is required to site these plants and 
keep them going.

Claire Peplowski
NYS z4

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