Garden Guru: Blue Fortune simply stunning in the garden
Blue Fortune simply stunning in garden
Blue Fortune agastache or anise hyssop is one of my favorite perennials not only for the bottlebrush-like spikes of blue flowers but also for attracting every bee and butterfly in the neighborhood. I've partnered them with plants like TigerEye Gold rudbeckia and others with the scarlet milkweed and the shows are always dazzling.
Blue Fortune is a wonderful anise hyssop hybrid. The parents are the U.S.-native Agastache foeniculum and the Korean Agastache rugosa. The resulting cross is simply amazing, it will become your must have plant for the future.
Herb lovers have been growing anise hyssop for years and relishing in not only its culinary properties but its beauty and tough nature. Beekeepers and connoisseurs treasure the honey produced from anise hyssop and this cross keeps all of the great traits from the parents.
Botanically speaking, Agastache is related to other well-known garden plants like salvia and coleus. It is hardy from zones 3 to 9 meaning virtually everyone can grow it. The staggering temperatures that hover over a Georgia summer, doesn't even cause a whimper in the plant or its prolific flower production.
The plants will easily reach 36 or more inches tall. With this height try grouping them in informal clusters, letting them serve as a terrific backdrop for the complementary colors or orange and yellow. Pink, purple, and dark blue will also look equally stunning.
Select a site in full sun for best blooming and to keep the plants compact and better branched. The soil should be fertile and well-drained. Wet feet will spell doom for the anise hyssop during the winter, so incorporate organic matter to loosen the soil or plant on raised beds. Consider planting in late March to early April spacing them 12 to 18 inches apart.
Though the plant is drought tolerant, watering during prolonged dry periods will pay dividends with added flower production. Feed with spring growth using a light application of a slow-release, fertilizer. Another application in mid-summer will keep the plants at peak for the fall.
Blue Fortune responds well to cutting back, so feel free to do so if the plants begin to look a little leggy or you simply wish they were bushier. The branches I have cut have really gone unnoticed by others. Once frost damage has occurred, cut back and add a protective layer of mulch.
Blue Fortune is a great choice for butterfly gardens and backyard wildlife habitats. But if you consider yourself a culinary artist give it a try letting the licorice flavor add that special touch to jams, jellies and candies. The flowers with that unique aroma are well suited to cutting and using in the vase as well as drying.
Thankfully Blue Fortune is getting easier to find, but don't waste time once planting season arrives. Jump on board and give the agastache a try.
Norman Winter is the director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens at the Historic Bamboo Farm, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.
