Agastache rupestris

Common name: Sunset hyssop
Plant type: Perennial
Flower color: Bright pink and orange
Bloom period: June-autumn
Fragrance: Foliage highly fragrant
Height: 18"-2 feet
Hardiness: USDA Zone 5b and southward
Light needs: Full, hot sun
Moisture needs: Below average
Seasonal character: Fine-textured silver foliage; spikes of bright rose pink and orange flowers all summer through fall attract hummingbirds and butterflies

Silver gray, sweetly fragrant foliage, spikes of bright rose pink and orange blossoms irresistable to hummingbirds and butterflies that last all summer into fall...who could ask for more in a perennial? Yet, nearly a decade after sunset hyssop was introduced into trade in the US, it remains a relative sleeper.

It is true that this isn't the hardiest plant; Zone 5b is pushing it. But if you garden farther south, especially in anarid regions such as southern California or the Rockies, you have no excuse for not having plenty of sunset hyssop in yourgarden. Plenty of hot sun, and lean, ultra well-drained to bordering on arid soil is what it takes to make this plant thrive.

Its downfall in northerly zones is more the winter wetness than humidity. If you are a northern gardener, work plenty of gravel and sand into the soil for your sunset hyssop. And whatever you do, don't surround it with shredded hardwood or bark mulch. Doing so is a sure way to kill it over the winter, as this type of mulch keeps the soil beneath extra waterlogged--anethema for sunset hyssop. Instead, mulch the plant with a generous collar of pea gravel, which will allow winter rains to drain away from it's rot-sensitive crown. Farther north than Zone 5b, enjoy this wonderful, all-season bloomer in a large container, where it will draw hummingbirds to your patio.

Sunset hyssop is good for sensory fireworks. Its beautiful, silver-gray foliage has a unique fruity-minty fragrance when brushed against. The flower color--a combination of soft orange and rose pink--is bright without ever being garish. And the tubular blossoms provide a feast for all sorts of winged visitors. Combine it with Echinacea purpurea 'Bright Star' for a wonderful echo to its unique orange and pink colors and pleasing contrast to its fine texture (not to mention that this combo is the ultimate butterfly banquet).

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Products of Interest:
'Paris' garden fork
French galvanized florist bucket--small
Champagne perennial pruners
Vase Anduze--Antique patina

Enjoy some other plants in profile:

Cimicifuga simplex 'The Pearl'	Corylopsis glabra	Erysimum cheirii, E. allionii and hybrids	Euonymus europaeus
Hamamelis virginiana	Hamamelis x intermedia	Jasminum nudiflorum	Lonicera fragrantissima
Nepeta sibirica 'Souvenir d'André Chaudon'	Parrotia persica	Pulsatilla vulgaris (formerly Anemone pulsatilla)	Rosa x multiflora 'Ghislaine de Felighonde'
Sarcococca ruscifolia	Alchemilla mollis	Anchusa azurea	Buddleia alternifolia
Calamintha grandiflora	Colchicum species	Helianthella quinquenervis	Helleborus niger
Hibiscus syriacus 'Bluebird'	Lespedeza thunbergii	Rosa x 'Gloire de Dijon'	Solidago rugosa
Tilia x europaea