In my attempt to grow more pollinator plants this year, I sprouted some different agastache cultivars from seed indoors over winter. Some disappointed me with horrible germination. Others grew so slowly once they were added to the flowerbeds in May that they were quickly buried by more eager annuals.
My favorite turned out to be a Fleuroselect award winner called ‘Astello Indigo’. It grows only 20 inches tall in a nice little clump.
I’ve grown Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop) for many years. Those plants can reach 4 feet tall with fluffy lavender flowers. In comparison, ‘Astello Indigo’ flowers have a slightly bluer tint to them and the flower spikes are more open.
You can see them growing next to each other here. Agastache foeniculum is on the left and ‘Astello Indigo’ is on the right. (They are only the same height because the plants on the left tipped over after a rainstorm and I just let them grow sideways):
Bees and other pollinators love ‘Astello Indigo’ and it has been the perfect addition to my flowerbeds and my special pollinator bed.
In addition to being a shorter cultivar that can be used in the front or middle of a flowerbed, I like that ‘Astello Indigo’ can truly handle part-sun conditions. My plants only get sun from about 10am to 2pm each day.
When you crush the leaves, they smell minty which makes sense. The plants are members of the mint family!
‘Astello Indigo’ is supposed to be drought and heat tolerant. The plants can get crown rot with too much water, but we averaged about 2.5 inches of rain a week this summer (WAY above normal), and the plants handled it like a champ.
I grew some ‘Astello Indigo’ plants in a pot as well, but I wasn’t as impressed with them in that growing situation. They bloomed beautifully like the ones I planted in my flowerbeds. But they seemed to bloom themselves out quickly and then turn brown and quit for the year. This happened in early August. The ones in my flowerbeds are still going strong in September.
‘Astello Indigo’ is hardy to Zone 6, so I don’t expect them to overwinter, but that’s okay because I was growing them as annuals.