Tip #6: Anise Hyssop (Agastache Hybrids)
If your goal is to attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies while avoiding tedious garden chores, Anise Hyssop needs a spot in your yard. Outstanding hybrid cultivars like ‘Blue Fortune’ and ‘Black Adder’ produce dense, bottlebrush-like spikes of tubular flowers in shades of purple, blue, and sometimes warm coral. Much like Russian Sage, Agastache holds onto its vibrantly colored flower bracts long after the individual blooms have faded, providing a relentless display of color from mid-summer until the first hard freeze.
Belonging to the mint family—which you can easily identify by its square stems—this perennial boasts highly aromatic foliage that smells distinctly of licorice or anise. This strong scent serves as an excellent natural defense mechanism against foraging deer. The upright, vertical growth habit makes it a brilliant structural element in the garden, adding height and dimension without taking up too much horizontal space.
Thriving in USDA Zones 5 through 9, Anise Hyssop generally grows between 2 to 3 feet tall. The most critical factor for ensuring its longevity as a perennial is excellent drainage, particularly during the winter months. If the crown of the plant sits in cold, soggy soil over the winter, it can easily rot. Mix some coarse sand or gravel into the planting hole if you have heavy clay, and place it in the sunniest spot available for a stunning, low-effort floral show.
