That sounds nice. Did you buy some?

Apricot Sunrise is an F1 hybrid from Agastache aurantiaca and A. coccinea. Seed from this will be variable and should not be sold under that name. It was one of the first Agastache hybrids released. I found it as a volunteer in a hanging basket of A. aurantiaca. The only other species in bloom was coccinea, and it was different from either parent and intermediate.

A. x `Firebird', `Tutti Frutti', 'Pink Panther', and `Pink Lemonade' are also my releases. The last three were hand-pollinated under grow lights.

Becky, no I didnt buy any for I already have some. So I will have to wait and see what I get. They packet showed them as being orange, but may turn out to be pink, red, white, mixed, et., huh Rich.

Interesting, I thought it was just a type of aurantiaca, not a hybrid. There is a whole flat in the basement which are now getting their first true leaves. They are destined for a hot dry sandy location. If they survive it will be interesting to see how variable the plants are. Several seed companies have been offering the seeds in the past few years. It seems that Thompson-Morgan had them last year.

Becky , odd you should mention Thompson-Morgan, for I believe that is who I received Mine from. I have a lot of work ahead of me in a couple of months . Hope I have time to do it. Penny really gave me a kick start on some seeds isnt she a sweetie.

F1 hybrids are bred every year for seed catalogs and GH mass producers. The parents are crossed yearly to produce these F1's. It's just the seed harvested thereafter from the F1 hybrid plants will not be true. Most veggies in a catalog are F1 hybrids as are many many flowers.

more info....

Here is a link that might be useful: Hybrid Seed (F1)

Vera, what you say is completely true, but the cross was between a collection of both A. aurantiaca and A. coccinea made by Roger Sanders as part of his study of Agastacne section Brittonastrum for his PhD thesis. I'm pretty sure both of these accessions, especially the coccinea, have been lost. Some of the nurseries I originally distributed them to may still be vegetatively propagating aurantiaca. Apricot Sunrise should be applied only to crosses between those two accessions (really, only to the original seedling and its clones to be completely correct).

Southwestern Native Seeds has recollected the A. aurantiaca, and it has also been collected from pure stands at the Denver Botanical Garden, so that one is true in the trade. Both species are somewhat variable in the wild.

These ornamentals are not valuable enough for Ball, Burpee, and other seed producers to hand pollinate. Besides, a maximum of four small seeds is produced for each pollinating stroke, not hundreds as with tomatoes and cucurbits.

I was at Lowes the other day and they had Apricot Sprite not Apricot Sunset. It was orange color on the packet. Are these the same plant or different?

It would have to be. I have not followed Agastaches as closely as Salvias, but most likely the seed producer has a collection of A. aurantiaca or some hybrids with this species dominating growing in a field and open pollinated.

Nuthatch--you are correct. I just checked my seed kitty and I have Apricot sprite, so that must be what it was. My mistake, my fault , my bad and I apoligize.

Apricot Sprite is a much smaller plant than Apricot Sunrise. Mine only top out at 18 inches and it is a little less hardy than Apricot Sunrise. Apricot Sunrise gets about 3 ft. tall and is hardy to zone 6 maybe lower. The flowers of both plants are very similar in color.

Penny

My problem with agastaches is not in germination, they do so nicely with bottom heat. The trouble comes after they have grown their first true leaves and then begin to damp off. Last year's rupestris experiment began with several hundred seedlings and ended with less than a half dozen making it into the summer garden. Those are not exactly stellar results.

Wardda , what do you think caused this damping off. My only experience with this came a yr ago last summer with some african violet plants.

Ward that is exactly why I use wintersowing on my Agastaches. I have never lost one due to damp off but they don't sprout until it has been warm for awhile.

Penny

Has anyone here tried using a weak camomile tea to help prevent damping off? I read this somewhere else on gardenweb and have been using it on my seeds that I start inside. It also helps if you have fungus gnats. I have had a few seedlings die, but nothing widespread, so I have attributed the deaths to something other than damping off.

Becky

To tell you the truth I'm not sure what is the cause. As an experiment this morning I raised the seedling tray up to within a few inches of the lights - maybe they will do better. Penny, I kept a 2nd seed packet as a back-up. Because of the tough conditions the plants will be going in to I wanted them well grown prior to planting. The only water they will be receiving is what nature provides. This die-off condition seems pretty much confined to agastaches, none of the other seedlings I grow suffer from it. It might be a simple as the growing medium, perhaps a much more sandy medium is needed?

How dense are the seedlings? If the seed leaves are touching one another when fully open, you have been sowing them too close together. Remember that the true leaves will be three to five times the size of the seed leaves. You will need two pairs of true leaves to do successful pricking out and replanting. Oversowing is a frequent mistake of those working the first time under grow lights.

Botrytis is a likely suspect. Air circulation and keeping the moisture content down will help.