Agastache 'Blue Fortune'

When our friend Gert Fortgens, of Arboretum Trompenburg in Holland, told me about his cross of the North American native Agastache foeniculum with the Korean Agastache rugosa, the offspring sounded too good to be true. After trialing Agastache 'Blue Fortune' in our dry garden in the late '90s, we considered it one of the finest new perennials in years! In spring, the strong new stalks of Agastache 'Blue Fortune' shoot upward to 3' tall, clothed with fuzzy, licorice-scented leaves. From early spring through summer, the stems are topped with hundreds of large bottlebrush-like spikes of blue-lavender flowers that attract a stunning array of pollinators, including hummingbirds! Agastache 'Blue Fortune' needs an open, well-drained site for best performance.