The year before last, we grew Agastache 'Hazy Days' from seed and were very pleased with it,although it didn't winter over in our relatively warm (but very wet) climate. We're going to consider it an annual from now on. The dark green foliage had a nice lemon scent and the flower spikes were quite tall. As I recall, they were muted shades of pink and orange. We got the seeds from William Dam Seeds, who no longer ship to the States, but I'm sure you could find it elsewhere.

Chris

I tried one called "Summer Breezes" from Select Seeds. I bouht it as a plant. IT was busy all summer getting established and is now putting out long wands of orange and lavender flowers, just gorgeous! I think it is going to frost tonight for the first time so we shall see!

Chris and LizaLily,
Thanks for the info on cultivars. Our winters are pretty severe here (usually). -25 degrees F sometimes, but with lots of snow cover, usually up to my waist. So I'll have to go with REALLY hardy ones. I had forgotten that Select Seeds has plants as well as seeds! I also went on my more regional forum (Upstate New York) and got specifics from them....I keep forgetting about them! I can't wait to get some planted in the spring. Their colors and scents are incredible to me. :0) Phyl

We had good success with Agastache rugosa Korean Mint." Johnny's used to carry it; this year I find it at Germania. I start them from seed; cut heavily; grow them as annuals. We love the aromatic foliage and bloom as structure and filler in bouquets.
Last year I got 3 Apache Sunset from Bluestone. Lovely plants with good aroma, but the growth habit wasn't as useful - many very slender stems.
Chris, thanks for the tip. I'm going to try "Hazy Days" - it's also available from Germania.

I have 'Honey Bee Blue' and am happy witht it as cutflower. Had canna, but it did not return after the third winter here.

I just sowed 'Apricot Sprite' or 'Apricot Spire' from seeds. I'll see whether it will germinate. Got 'Blue Fortune' too. I'll see whether it'll come back in spring. Squashed it when I tipped it off the barrel to sink it in the ground in October.

Robroy and Pitimpinai,
Thanks for the names of different cultivars. I hate the thought that they aren't reliably perennial, esp. the ones that claim to be hardy to zone 4-5. I especially love the ones with the orange and orange/fuchsia combo! Maybe I'll wintersow seeds soon. It's January, and so far we haven't had much winter weather at all, but I still can't wait til spring. :0) Phyl

I'm in another wet zone 5. Grew agastache (don't remember cultivar, I'm sorry) a few years back, it didn't return for a second year. I think our long, wet, autumn and spring rotted it. That tends to be a problem here. I tend to think of it as a good plant for drier Western areas. A high-mountains New Mexico zone 5 is way, way, way sunnier and drier than a lower-mountains North Idaho zone 5.

What specifics did you hear from upstate New York? If there is a cultivar that is doing well there, I'd like to try it.

Jeanne

Wayne Winterrowd has a gorgeous book on annuals and tender plants (published 2004) that says agastache is _root_ hardy to zone 7, and in a good year, may even come back in zone 5. I suspect this is another one of those plants for which the hardiness claims are greatly exaggerated. Except for A. rugosa, which is definitely z 4/5 hard in my experience. But seeds are becoming available for lots of the good species/ cultivars, and they're pretty easy from seed. To me, worth considering for annual planting.

Jeanne,
I don't remember getting any response locally on agastache....unless maybe I had just asked about lavender cultivars in my post....
Annebert, were you referring to Agastache Rupestris? I haven't heard of A. rugosa (wondered if that were a typo?) It's the agastache rupestris that I had that didn't come back, though I loved it. Thanks! :0) Phyl

Agastache 'Blue Fortune' is the hardiest (z4-9) Anise Hyssop most commonly grown for cutflower production here in the Upper Midwest. This plant is a hybrid of A. rugosa and A. foeniculum.

I am interested in growing 'rupestris' (Rock Anise Hyssop) this season just for the color. It's supposed to be hardy to zone 5. I would probably grow it as an annual.

Agastache Tutti Frutti is also a rugosa. It is worth growing for the scent alone even though I would also treat this one as an annual.

Trish

Hmm, my post wasn't very clear. I meant that the Korean mint (which I thought was straight A. rugosa) is quite hardy, but A rupestris is the one Winterrowd says is not really hardy in zone 5, more like zone 7. He makes that blanket comment, actually, about A. rupestris, A. cana, A. mexicana, A. anisata, A. aurantiaca ("Apricot Sunrise") and A. coccinea x mexicana "Pink Panther". Don't know how many of these are widely available, and not always sure how much data hardiness ratings are based on. It's probably the moisture, not the temperature, that does them in

sooooo....Which one smells like rootbeer then? I just GOTTA have that! I garden with my nose.

I think the Apache Sunset is the rootbeer one, triple_b. I grow the rupestris and the smell is licorice and mint mixed. Mine are huge, at least 3' tall and wide and I ignore them a great deal. I love them, my husband is hooked on them too (he just bought "Apricot Sprite" and a hot pink one to put in this past fall). They grow really well here but then we aren't known for wet conditions in Colorado. :) I was told that you should never cut them back in the fall because the stems are hollow and any moisture that comes will go straight down and rot the roots out.

Hey, Phyl! I'm in z5, too, tho east of you a ways (southern Saratoga county). I've been growing A. rupestris for 3 years with no winter-kill. I think the trick is to have excellent, and I mean EXCELLENT, drainage. When we bought our house, we discovered the nimrod owners had created a "flower bed" by putting down, I'm not kidding, 6 inches of crushed rock with about a foot of admittedly great topsoil on top.

Have you ever tried to dig through 6 solid inches of compacted crushed rock to plant roses??? Oh, my aching shovel!

Giving credit where it's due, tho, everything in that bed flourishes. I plant all my xeric plants there and haven't lost one yet. If you really want a good choice of agastaches, you might want to try High Country Gardens. They also have nice penstemons, tho I don't know how they hold up as cut flowers.

Here is a link that might be useful: High Country Gardens

In the countrysides of Tuscany, the Italians often used stone for drainage in their beautiful gardens. Nobody ever considered them nimrods. They also have some of the most spectacular roses I have ever seen. Many of the ancient practices of these loving and sharing people are still in use today.

Trish

Trish, I'm willing to bet the "loving and sharing" people you reference also knew what they were doing - perhaps you should have included "knowledgeable" in your description! ;)

I assure you, the people who owned our place were nimrods - we've had ample proof! No slight to anyone, loving and sharing or otherwise, who successfully and knowledgeably uses stone for drainage was intended!

Yes; but.......

Sometimes when we know better, kitcat, we do better.

Back to "Agastache for bouquets;" and, triple b's inquiry.
Agastache ruperstris is commonly referred to as Rootbeer Hyssop.

Trish

Is there a trick to keeping them fresh in the vase? I'm an aspiring flower farmer and have lots of questions! Anyone have time to be my mentor?

I see this thread is quite old! Anyone still around?

I also bought the Apache Sunset from Bluestone for Cut Flowers, but it seemed terribly delicate and rather short for cut flowers. I like the Tutti Frutti above. What are others?