Hyssop / Agastache

Agastache neomexicana this is gone now
From High Country Gardens in spring 2018 -- moved it, then took it out in 2020

Agastache cana 'Sinning' this is gone now
From Newman's Nursery in late spring 2018

Agastache 'Kudos" -- one Red and one Mandarin Orange

From Bluestone Perennials in spring 2020. Added two more of the orange from Sooner Plant Farm in summer 2020, only one survived. Ordered another orange for around the birdbath in fall 2023.

Agastache 'Black Adder'

From Newman's in fall 2023

Photos

Expectations:
Leave stems to overwinter so water doesn't penetrate. Good drainage is essential. Tip or remove new growth in spring for more compact plant and more flowering stems. Don't fertilize or overwater. 

What Mandarin Orange Kudos is supposed to look like

The 'Purple Haze' agastache I had in CT was huge and billowy for a couple seasons but I lost it one winter. The agastaches here are tiny things, very wispy. 

Nice enough, but small plants and despite warnings not to overwater, they will not grow or thrive without a lot of water. 

The red and the Mandarin orange Kudos agastaches are actually dwarf varieties, only to a foot or two feet tall.

Agastache cana 'Sinning' has raspberry magenta pink spikes and smells very strongly of bubblegum. It is supposed to get big and full and it reputed to bloom longer than most agastaches.

Experiences:

> The Red Kudos agastache was planted at the corner of the potting bench curve but then moved to the kitchen courtyard in front of the Kintzley's Ghost vine in fall 2020. It's okay, tiny and not very showy.

Red Kudos July 2, 2021

Small and spindly in summer 2020, but upright. 

The flower spikes photograph scarlet and complement the purple veronicas and orange geums, but in most light the flowers are a paler rose red.

> I put the Mandarin Orange Kudos agastache in the front triangle garden. 

Supposed to be a bit smaller, only about 18 inches tall and wide. At first planting it was wispy and thin and struggled, but it had tiny blooms.

I watered a lot, then later added two more to make a clump. They need quite a bit of water to get started.

The orange blooms are tiny and a soft apricot orange, but nice enough with the blue of the nearby lavender in bloom.

But they just didn't thrive. In 2021 they were tinier than before, wispy and they curl up and crisp without constant water. I took them out. One was saved and finally put at the foot of the new birdbath location where it looked elegant and fantastic! Added another orange one in fall 2023.

2023

> Agastache 'Black Adder' is a large variety with dramatic purple flower cones. I put it in a pot under the sundial.

> Agastache cana 'Sinning', also called Sonoran Sunset, did not thrive in the driveway strip and was removed.

August 25, 2019

> Agastache neomexicana is gone now; it was successful, but in the end I took it out in 2020. It always bloomed all summer long and into fall. It just went on and on, a successful agastache. But I didn't have a good spot for it, and the rosy spikes were too subtle for what I wanted.

It's a pale rose color, not very showy, but a tidy, upright form that stood tall. 

It never stopped. Surprisingly, like the other agastaches I have experienced, it needed a lot of water.

First it was in the dining room window garden, but then moved to the bottom of the fence by the patio table. Then to the potting bench curve, but at the end of the season I took it out. 

I never really found the right place for its soft rosy color.