Agastache Beelicious Purple

The Agastache 'Beelicious Purple' is a recent, compact and bushy variety that is appreciated for both its generous flowering and its hardiness and ease of cultivation. It is both a nectar-rich plant, aromatic and perennial ornamental plant, offering beautiful spikes throughout the summer, where small flowers of bright purple-violet are tightly packed, animated by the incessant flight of butterflies and bees. A fragrant, versatile plant, equally at home in a pot on the terrace as in a sunny border or in an herbaceous bed.

The Agastache 'Beelicious Purple' is a very recent Dutch horticultural hybrid belonging to the family Lamiaceae, just like its cousins the salvias. This herbaceous perennial, hardy down to -20°C (1°F) in well-drained soil, quickly forms a small upright clump, averaging 45 cm (18in) high and 30 cm (12in) wide. Its angular stems bear elongated, triangular-shaped leaves with toothed edges, dark green in colour. They emit a very pleasant fragrance when crushed. Flowering lasts from June to October, without interruption, in the form of densely packed upright inflorescences, of considerable size considering the plant's stature. Each small mauve tubular flower is surrounded by purple bracts. This particularly honey-rich and nectar-rich flowering attracts a large number of pollinating insects. The above-ground vegetation, deciduous, disappears in winter and re-emerges in spring from the plant's stump.

The Agastache 'Beelicious Purple' is cultivated in sunny country-style flower beds and borders, but also in pots on the terrace. In hot regions, it should never lack water during flowering. In cooler regions, the soil should be well-drained. A carefree perennial, it happily accompanies grasses (such as stipas, eragrostis, pennisetums), herbaceous salvias, perennial geraniums, flamboyant heleniums, and asters. It also pairs very well with yellow or orange shrubby potentillas, for example. In the vegetable garden, it can be planted alongside thyme, savory, chervil, or basil. The dried flowers keep well in bouquets. The leaves are traditionally used in cooking as a substitute for anise, or in herbal teas after drying.

The highly fragrant flowers and leaves of Agastache are edible and delicious in salads or fish dishes.