Agastache, a very fragrant flower

Crumple a leaf or a flower spike and it gives off a soft, mint-like fragrance touched with aniseed: this is agastache, better known as hummingbird mint or giant hyssop. It flavours desserts, jams and sauces, and draws bees and butterflies to the bed. Give it full sun and light, well-drained soil, and the taste is at its very best.

Agastache at a glance

Name	Agastache
Family	Lamiaceae
Type	perennial
Height	12 to 48 inches (30 to 120 cm)
Exposure	full sun
Soil	light, well-drained
Blooming	late spring to mid-autumn

Let’s take a look at how to grow Agastache and get to rediscover this plant.

Planting agastache

Agastache is a plant that will do well in almost every setting.

How to plant agastache

You can plant agastache starting in mid-autumn and all the way to late spring to early summer, keeping a distance of 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) between plants.

• Agastache likes full sun but it also tolerates part sun.
• It appreciates well drained soil, even poor.
• Being planted in the sun is where agastache is at its best in terms of flavor.

How to sow agastache

If sowing from seed, sow agastache during the month of early spring in a sheltered place.

• In any case, select a full sun location.
• Once it has set root and has settled in properly, agastache will go to seed and re-seed itself and will ultimately form a nice flowery cover along the ground.

Propagating agastache

You can propagate agastache in spring or fall through crown division. This ensures that new plants will resemble the initial mother plant.

Another technique is to save seeds and then sow them. New seedlings that result might not grow up to be exactly like the mother plant. This is due to cross-pollination: agastache very easily fertilizes with pollen from other varieties. So if the pollen came from a different type of agastache, a new variety might appear!

Germinating agastache seeds

It helps to “stratify” the seeds.

This is because they need to “feel” that Winter is over before sprouting again – if not, they’d sprout in Fall and quickly die of frost in Winter. On a chemical level, the cold helps some compounds develop which trigger germination in Spring.

To stratify agastache seeds:

• Use an airtight tupperware or zip-seal bag. Choose a small one so it doesn’t take up much space.
• In the container, pour a handful of sterilized soil mix. Fresh soil mix straight from the bag is fine. Otherwise, bake a handful in an oven for half an hour (after preparing a meal with it to save on energy), it’ll kill any fungus.
• Mix the seeds together with the sterile soil, and add a few spoonfuls of water, just enough to get the soil moist but not soggy. Close the container/pouch.
• For about ten days, switch the container from refrigerator (40°F or 5°C) to freezer (10-20°F or -10/-5°C) every day. This mimics freeze and thaw.
• After that, the seeds are ready for sowing in a tray!

Four ways to increase your agastache, compared

Agastache can be planted, sown, divided or simply left to seed itself around. The method you choose decides both the timing and whether the new plants will look like the parent.

Division is the safe route if you like the plant you already have; seed is the route to surprises.

Watering agastache

This plant copes well with having a lot of sun, but requires watering in case of elevated temperatures.

If growing it in pots, don’t wait for the soil to be completely dry before watering again; simply water often but in moderate amounts.

• Water agastache at the base of the clump rather than over the leaves: prolonged leaf wetness encourages downy mildew, rust and leaf spots, while crowded, humid, poorly ventilated plantings favour powdery mildew.
• Agastache is notably drought-tolerant but prone to root and crown rot in poorly drained or winter-wet soil, so gardeners should prioritize sharp drainage and avoid overwatering rather than fearing dry spells.
• Never leave a pot of agastache standing in a full saucer, and empty it after heavy rain so the roots are not sitting in water.

Harvesting agastache

Agastache is best collected in the morning during the vegetation phase, from spring up to the end of summer, but it is still fine when collected at other times of the year.

• Wait for the plant to have grown quite a bunch of leaves before harvesting for the first time.
• Dried agastache leaves keep very well, they can last several months.

Note that when you crumple agastache flowers and leaves, they produce a soft mint-like fragrance with a touch of aniseed. It is very pleasurable.

Choosing an agastache variety

Agastache covers everything from tall, fully hardy anise hyssops for the back of a bed to short-lived orange and coral hybrids that are happiest in a pot. The table below sets out the varieties most often found on sale, and what separates them.

All there is to know about agastache

Agastache is part of the Lamiaceae family, as is sage. Both plants are thus well known both for their medicinal properties and for their taste: leaves of both are used in culinary preparations as a spice herb.

Types of recipes it is used in include desserts, jams, sauces and more, thanks to its licorice, aniseed-like taste.

Although Agastache is the scientific name, more common appellations are hummingbird mint and giant hyssops. It is indeed a relative of mint, but has nothing to do with hyssop.

Two varieties, Agastache foeniculum and Agastache rugosa, are used to prepare tea that helps stimulate digestion and counters vomiting and diarrhea. Dried leaves and flowers are the best parts of the plant for this.

Also very ornamental and simply of a high value as a spice, this plant is also an excellent flower bed plant to decorate the garden.  As a spice, you can cook delicious flavorful meals. Use young leaves in salad or prepare tea and infusions from them.

Agastache and pollinators

An extremely melliferous plant, agastache will grow well in a flower bed or along edges, in a rocky pile or a sand patch.

It’ll even fit right into a garden box on your balcony or terrace.

You’ll be attracting butterflies and other beautiful insects – or hummingbirds – in no time!

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