`Summer Love` `Summer Sky` Agastache `Tutti Frutti` has tubular pink

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Michigan Gardener a June 2010
Eric Hofley / Michigan Gardener
‘Blue Fortune’
Terra Nova Nurseries
‘Summer Love’
Eric Hofley / Michigan Gardener at the Brant garden
Proven Winners
‘Acapulco Rose’
Agastache ‘Acapulco Salmon and Pink’
combines beautifully with a lantana in this
container planting.
Terra Nova Nurseries
‘Summer Sky’
Eric Hofley / Michigan Gardener
Agastache ‘Tutti Frutti’ has tubular pink flowers from summer until fall.
MichiganGardener a June2010
21
plant focus
Pat Acheff
‘Apricot Sprite’
Walters Gardens, Inc.
‘Apache Sunset’
Agastache
Agastache is a genus that’s full of beautiful plants that can be used throughout the
landscape. Its flowers somewhat resemble
the common salvia (Salvia splendens); blooms
are tubular on wiry racemes that extend
prominently above the anise-scented foliage.
Heights range from just over a foot to as tall
as 4 feet and the color range is equally diverse,
ranging from oranges, yellows, and whites to
rose, purple, and blue. Agastache is a favorite
amongst hummingbirds and has been used
for centuries to make tea and potpourri. Most
agastache will overwinter
in well-drained soil but tend
to be short-lived. Amending
your soil with coarse sand or
aged pine bark will improve
George
drainage and increase your
Papadelis
agastache’s tolerance to wet
winters. All agastache are
deer resistant and have no major insect or disease problems. In the last few
years, varieties have been released that have
turned agastache into an even more valuable
plant for sunny beds or containers.
Most of our modern cultivars have evolved
from a few species, and each brings a set of
valuable characteristics to the garden. Common names are used loosely but vary mostly
depending on the species. These include anise hyssop, hummingbird mint, giant mint,
and Korean mint. Some species are hardy
to zone 1, surviving the harsh winters of the
Arctic Circle. Others, native to the southwest
United States and Mexico, can survive long,
hot summers. All prefer full sun and all thrive
in well-drained garden soil.
The agastache that first caught my attention was ‘Tutti Frutti.’ One of this country’s
greatest container gardeners recognized the
value of this plant as a component in sunny
patio pots over a decade ago. She used ‘Tutti
Frutti’ as the 2- to 3-foot tall upright, focal
point in many container combinations where
it flowered from spring until fall. The tubular,
rose-purple flowers attract hummingbirds
almost as frequently as they attract container
gardening gurus.
‘Tutti Frutti’ is often
tricky to find, but the readily available ‘Acapulco’ series is a wonderful although
more compact replacement.
This 12- to 18-inch series
offers a broad range of colors including ‘Orange,’ ‘Red,’
‘Yellow with Rose,’ and ‘Gold.’ But the most
common varieties are ‘Rose’ and ‘Salmon
and Pink.’ Like ‘Tutti Frutti,’ these are perfect in the center of containers where other
plants can act as “fillers” and “spillers.” Acapulcos are usually sold as an annual but will
often survive our winters when planted in
the ground. Another agastache with a dwarf
habit is ‘Apricot Sprite,’ which grows up to 18
inches tall and features vibrant, peachy apricot flowers.
Plant breeder Terra Nova Nurseries has
been developing some outstanding varieties
that are being promoted as perennials. One
www.WaysideGardens.com
‘Black Adder’
Eric Hofley / Michigan Gardener
‘Summer Glow’
Agastache
Botanical name:Agastache
(a-gah-STACH-ee,a-gah-STAK-ee)
Plant type:Perennial;canbeusedasan“annual”oralong-bloomingperennial
Plant size:12-48inchestallandwide,
dependingonvariety
Habit:Upright,bushy,loose
Hardiness:Dependsonvariety,manyare
zone6(-10degrees)
Flower color:Shadesofpink,rose,purple,
blue,orange,yellow,andwhite
Flower habit:Spikesofsmall,tubularflowers
of my favorites is ‘Summer Love.’ Its extra fat,
bright rose flowers are produced all summer
into fall on plants that grow about 24 inches
tall. ‘Summer Sky’ has violet-blue flowers on
18- to 24-inch plants, while ‘Summer Glow’
has custard yellow flowers that evolve from
gold buds on 20-inch plants. Other varieties
include ‘Cotton Candy,’ ‘Raspberry Summer,’
and ‘Summer Fiesta,’ which are pink, rosyred, and orange-red respectively. All are longblooming and hardy to zone 6. It is difficult
to choose the best variety from such a broad
selection as all are wonderful in both the garden and in containers. They might be a little
difficult to find in 2010, but starting next year,
a propagation agreement will make these
wonderful plants more widely available.
One of the hardiest agastache available is
‘Blue Fortune.’ It produces lavender blue, bottlebrush-like flowers on strong, 2- to 3-foot
upright stems from midsummer to early fall.
‘Blue Fortune’ is hardy to zone 4 and has foliage that smells just like black licorice. Despite
its name, ‘Red Fortune’ is quite different. It
Bloom period:Midsummertofall
Light:Sun
Soil:Well-drained,averageorfertilesoil
Uses:Containers(smallervarieties)and
perennialgarden(largervarieties)
Companion plants:Coneflowers,daylilies,
black-eyedSusans,ornamentalgrasses,asters,goldenrods,sedums,andmanyothers.
Remarks:Prefershotweather.Drought
tolerantonceestablished.Doesnotlikecold,
wetfeet.Provideexcellentdrainagetoaid
overwintering.
produces more airy swirls of magenta-red
flowers on stiff stems. It blooms early summer through fall and grows about 3 feet tall.
Catalogs list ‘Red Fortune’ as a more tender
variety but gardeners are successfully overwintering it in climates similar to ours.
‘Black Adder’ was released a few years ago
and remains a hardy and popular variety. The
violet blue flowers emerge from the deepest
purple buds, giving this one a dramatic effect in the garden. Flowering continues from
midsummer until frost on plants growing 30
to 36 inches tall. Like other agastache, ‘Black
Adder’ is low maintenance, requiring nothing
more than the occasional removal of an aging
flower spike.
I am often surprised how many people have
not tried agastache. If it were just a low maintenance, deer resistant plant, I might understand. But agastache is also a long-blooming,
hummingbird magnet with fragrant foliage.
George Papadelis is the owner of
Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy, MI.