Agastache update
Agastache ‘Ava’
At the end April I was the happy recipient of a collection of Agastache, or hummingbird mint, from High Country Gardens. I planned to post regular updates as I trialed them in my garden, but the unspeakable conditions of our recently departed summer sapped my enthusiasm for the follow-up, plus I could never seem to take a good illustrative picture of the fine-textured plants. Well, the pictures may not be great, but they’ll give you an idea. It’s time to give the Agastaches their due!
Agastache neomexicana
High Country sent me 8 different Agastache: A. cana ‘Rosita’, A. ‘Desert Sunrise’, A. ‘Summer Glow’, A. neomexicana, A. ‘Acapulco Salmon & Pink’, A. rugosum, A. ‘Ava’, and A. rupestris. As regular readers know, my garden is less than a year old, and the few beds that I have right now tend to get a half day of sun at best. But they do contain bermed, well-drained soil, which is what Agastaches like. And in our hot climate, I found that the ones that performed best received morning and midday sun but shade in late afternoon.
Agastache cana ‘Rosita’
Planted in early May (later than I like to plant herbaceous perennials), the Agastaches handled our unending heat wave and lack of rain with stoicism. I gave them extra water the first few weeks, but through the summer they got water only on my two designated watering days, which eventually dried up to one day due to more-stringent watering restrictions. Tough conditions for any new plant, but all survived—and some thrived—except for one: Agastache ‘Summer Glow’ burned to a crisp in mid-summer.
Agastache rugosum
My favorites were the thinner, airier, southwestern U.S. natives rather than the broader-leafed Korean A. rugosum, which resembles a pale-blue salvia and kind of disappears in the background. However, for those of you in the “wetter winter climates of the Midwest and East[ern U.S.],” this one should perform better than the southwestern Agastaches, according to High Country Gardens’ catalog, and might be worth a try.
Agastache ‘Desert Sunrise’ is one of my faves and looks smashing paired with silver artemesia.
Agastache ‘Acapulco Salmon & Pink’ is another favorite, although this one ended up paired with the towering Cleome ‘Senorita Rosalita’, which dominated the space and forced the poor agastache to crawl on its belly toward the light.
My absolute favorite turned out to be the queenly ‘Ava’, pictured at the top of this post, which grew tall and bloomed wonderfully all summer. Here’s what High Country Gardens’ catalog has to say about it:
4-5′ x 24″ wide, (cutting propagated). Of all the hummingbird mints varieties High Country Gardens has released (and they are our specialty), this is our finest introduction. This stately hybrid between Agastache cana and Agastache barberi will be the centerpiece of any planting with its huge spikes of deep rose-pink flowers, raspberry-red calyxes and sweetly scented foliage.
Flowering begins in mid-summer and continues for months, the spikes elongate up to a foot or more in length and intensifying in color with each passing week. Unlike any other Agastache I’ve grown, Ava’s calyxes retain their intense coloration keeping the plant beautiful until hard frost. Or like fine dark-flowered Lavender, it can be picked and dried to make a fragrant everlasting flower.
This plant takes two to three growing seasons to reach mature size and will live for many years when happy. Plant in enriched, well-drained garden soil. Fertilize annually in mid-fall with Yum Yum Mix and leave the stems standing through winter. Cut it back in mid-spring. Zones 5-10
This tells me that the best is yet to come with my ‘Ava’, as Agastaches take a couple of seasons to reach their full potential. She’s growing with a powder-blue Wheeler’s sotol, some native sedges, and Annie in Austin‘s pink rain lilies that bloom at her feet. I’m really happy with this one.
The others seem like winners too, although I need to move a few of them into more sun. It will be interesting to see how much fuller they are next year (the ones I don’t have to move), after they’ve had time to establish themselves.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Pam, Glad to hear they are doing so well in your garden. They are tough plants to photograph. I love them, but the wetter winter killed most of them; then the surprising wet summer took out the rest! This is why I usually plant cedar glade natives! Although, the A rugosum sounds tempting….maybe it comes in those wonderful agastache colors and not just salvia blue! gail
I’m not sure about the available colors, Gail. But the tempting array of Agastaches in the High Country Gardens catalog is enough to seduce anyone. Austin gets most of its rain in the winter months too, so I’ll have to do a follow-up report next spring to see if the Agastaches are still alive. —Pam
I’m just starting my garden after buying a house in N Austin – how does one begin to collect such specimens?
Eric, I would advise starting a garden by buying locally at a good independent nursery that can advise you on hardy plant choices for your soil and sun/shade conditions. My favorites for knowledgeable and helpful salespeople are Barton Springs Nursery and Natural Gardener. It’s also very useful to educate yourself about the kinds of plants that grow well here by visiting the Wildflower Center and other local gardens and by reading local garden blogs. Once you’ve got some tried-and-true plant successes under your belt, it can be fun to branch out with catalog orders and plants that are more unusual or harder to grow. Have fun, and happy digging! —Pam
What an interesting post regarding the Agastache. You are very observant and I love your comments. Of the multitude of Agastache I’ve selected, bred and grown over the past 15 years, ‘Ava’ remains my favorite.
I hope your drought conditions will be coming to an end so you can enjoy your garden and its new transplants in a less stressful environment. I know ‘Ava’ will really shine the second growing season and beyond. Her only flaw is that she is a tall growing plant with somewhat brittle stems. Putting a peony cage or other support for the plant to grow through in the early part of the growing season will alleviate potential stem breakage in late summer and fall when the stems are heavy with flowers.
When planted in well drained soils, winter moisture is not a problem. They are used to this in their native Southwestern habitats. It’s only wet conditions where there is a lot of spring freezing and thawing of the soil (USDA Zones 5-6) that this genus can suffer.
Thanks so much for the additional growing tips, David. I don’t know if they even sell peony cages this far south, but I’ll find some sort of support for ‘Ava’ to keep her from breaking next summer. I’m really enjoying your plants. Thanks again for donating them for GGW’s photo contest. —Pam
I am a huge fan of agastache, and I agree that the rugosas aren’t as spectacular as the airy forms. The airy forms just bloom and bloom and bloom!
Cameron
And I know they’re a deer-resistant plant in your garden, Cameron, so I’ll be trying more of these when I get some beds out front in deer territory. —Pam
I love the agastaches–my favorites are definitely the ones with sunset colors. Mine tend to get leggy over time, so I’ve been bunching them closer together than recommended and it seems to help.
Thanks for the tip, Susan. I’ll remember that. —Pam
Hi Pam, I had been wondering about your prizes. Good to know this info, including the peony cage if we ever find some Ava. We started some from seed one year, the orange type and were thrilled with the flowers, but they could not withstand our wet winters, even with the good drainage here. Subsequent plantings also could not make it, the last being one from HCG, Black Adder. It dwindled and then disappeared. I envy your soil and climate to be able to grow these beautiful plants. We have one small oxblood lily blooming, it pales besides yours. Love those washtubs, we use them for all types of things here, although not planters, and they last well.
Frances
Thanks for your comments, Frances. I’m sorry that agastaches don’t perform well in your TN garden. I can hardly imagine that you miss them though, what with all the beautiful plants that grow so well for you. —Pam
I love the agastaches too, Pam, especially the Acapulco series. The one I want is ‘Summer Glow’: that soft yellow colour is just wonderful. I know someone is growing it in the blogosphere (Kylee? Carol? Annie? I don’t know ….) but it wasn’t available around here this season. This is the year I’m going to overwinter my ‘Salmon and Pink’ outdoors. I am. Keep telling myself that. Heh!
‘Summer Glow’ is the one that croaked in my garden this summer, unfortunately. It was pretty. Good luck with the overwintering. —Pam
Love agastaches, and think High Country Gardens’ website is a great one. I like them telling me when a plant won’t usually do well in the heat and humidity that is often in part of Texas and the South. Yours are lovely, Pam!
Thanks, Suzanne. Yes, HCG’s catalog is quite nice. —Pam
What a tough summer you’ve had for establishing a new garden, Pam. The Agastaches have done well to survive it. Ava certainly is a beautiful color, but I like them all.
I planted A. foeniculum last summer and it bloomed with lovely purple spires this summer. I love the fragrant leaves. I’d like to try more varieties.
Happy fall digging!
The leaves are very fragrant, and it does live up to its name “hummingbird mint,” doesn’t it? —Pam
I love agastache and am pleased to see you had such success with the plants you received. I think that offering shade in the afternoon is very important for these plants here in Texas. I will be interested to see how they do next year. I have had some seed in my garden but they have never been a true success like yours. Maybe the secret is to buy them as plants.
Everything likes afternoon shade here in the summer it seems—the gardener included! Agastaches are no exception. As for growing from seed, I haven’t tried it. I did read that they don’t really care to be transplanted. —Pam
Hi Pam, what a great review on so many different types of Agastache. I fell in love with these plants last fall when the garden writers visited Terra Nova’s display gardens. They were so beautiful mixed with broader leaved plants. I don’t have any of the varieties you have, but I do have two or three of their cultivars. They have done so well here that I can vouch for them too. As where you live, they like morning sun and a bit of afternoon shade.~~Dee
I’m glad they grow well for you too, Dee. I bet they look pretty with your roses. —Pam
Rosita would be my favorite, but they all are wonderful. Thanks for the useful information Pam!
You’re welcome, Tatyana. ‘Rosita’ is very pretty. I hope they grow well in your garden. —Pam
Thanks for the follow up. It’s great to have a fire-tested review. Since July, I’ve held off ordering and planting anything new but this I’m putting this in my spring folder.
“Fire-tested review”—indeed! This summer was a trial by fire, for sure. Now that cooler weather has arrived, though, I’m having a hard time resisting the lure of the nurseries. —Pam
Ah, I was curious about how the agastaches were working out for you! So, have you noticed more hummingbird activity in your garden now that you’ve got more plants that they like?
I have seen a good deal of hummer activity lately, Lori, although I haven’t actually glimpsed one on the agastaches yet. The views from my house exclude the agastaches, unfortunately. I see hummers enjoying the flame acanthus, autumn sage, majestic sage, and my neighbor’s huge abelia over the fence. —Pam
So, you are an ‘Ava’ gardener. (Sorry! Just could not resist!). I just got ‘Salmon and Pink’ at the local Lowes of all places. I hope it does as well as yours, which are very beautiful.
Good one, HB. 😉 ‘Ava’ was my initial favorite, of the bunch that I received, but the ‘Salmon and Pink’ has held up the best over time. Enjoy yours! —Pam