Agastache Cotton Candy

Agastache 'Cotton Candy' is a recent variety selected in the USA for its abundant flowering and its soft pink colour, which is quite rare in these plants. This honey-bearing perennial plant is aromatic and ornamental, with a compact, dense, and bushy habit. It blooms continuously from mid-summer to autumn. Its small, pale-pink flowers are enclosed in calyxes of a deeper pink on its spikes. This pastel variety easily blends with a multitude of other plants, in a natural bed or on a patio.

Agastache 'Cotton Candy' belongs to the large Lamiaceae family, just like mint, sage, and thyme. This herbaceous perennial is relatively hardy in well-drained soil. It forms a small upright clump, 60cm (24in) tall when in bloom and 45cm (18in) wide. Its square-sectioned stems bear elongated leaves, which are triangular in shape and 8cm (3in) long. They bear serrated edges. The slightly greyish-green leaves grow along the entire length of the angular floral stems. When crushed, they emit a very pleasant minty fragrance. The continuous flowering period extends from July to October. It takes the form of upright, thin and dense inflorescences. Each small tubular flower with 2 pale-pink lips is surrounded by dark pink bracts. This particularly honey-rich and nectar-rich flowering attracts a large number of bees and butterflies.

Agastache 'Cotton Candy' prefers sheltered and sunny borders and beds with a slightly wild appearance. It also does well in pots on a patio. In hot regions, it should be well-watered during the flowering period. In cooler regions, the soil should be particularly healthy and well-drained. It is a carefree perennial where it thrives. It adds substance to beds composed of grasses (stipas, eragrostis, pennisetums), herbaceous salvias, nepetas, viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare), phacelia, sainfoin, goldenrod, and asters. It also blends very well with shrubby cinquefoils in white or pink, for example. In the vegetable garden, it can grow alongside thyme, savory, chervil, or basil. The dried flowers keep very well in bouquets. The leaves are traditionally used in cooking as a substitute for mint, or in herbal teas after drying.

The highly fragrant flowers and leaves are edible. They are delicious in salads or in oriental dishes.