Comments on: One Plant, Three Seasons: Agastache ‘Blue Fortune

By: daffodilplanter

daffodilplanter — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:54:15 +0000

My grandkids call this “the root beer plant” and we like to sample the new leaves in spring. Not so tasty by fall. Thank you for your lovely photos and wise words. It does give me a pang to see the lush growth in your damp climate (arid summer here in the Sierra Nevada foothills).

And I envy some of the beautiful species that you can grow that I can enjoy only as annuals, if at all. Moist soil (especially in winter) is no friend to many agastaches.
-Nan

By: Cameron (Defining Your Home Garden)

Cameron (Defining Your Home Garden) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:05:03 +0000

I’ve also found that Blue Fortune can take a bit more moisture and closer quarters than other agastache varieties. I use it planted it thickly up against clumping bamboo and pineapple sage to make a “green fence” to block a deer trail.

Oooh: a deer-resistant “green fence” that also has pretty blooms and great fragrance, and that attracts butterflies and beneficial insects too. Nice!
-Nan

By: Denise

Denise — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:29:03 +0000

Before I read your comments about the melianthus above, I was thinking how well-mannered yours is! They get huge and sprawly here in zone 10 and need constant cutting back. Gets whitefly here too.

I found a couple ‘Red Fortune’ agastaches last summer that seem to be holding on through the winter. But I’m eyeing with dismay the ever-shrinking clumps of some ‘Black Adder’ planted in late fall. And I find the yarrows generally behave for me as you describe — not much after the first great flush.

So glad to find a blog that wasn’t enumerating the charms of a winter landscape. It seems a perfect use of winter time, reflecting over what works and why. Thank you!

I appreciate your visit, Denise. I’ve had my moments of rhapsodizing about winter beauty, but this year, I’ve already had it with cold and dreariness. I’m ready for spring!
-Nan