Agastache Kudos Gold

The Agastache 'Kudos Gold' is part of a series of recent hybrids, selected by an American nursery for their floribundity and increased hardiness. This variety blooms tirelessly during a long summer period with upright and dense spikes, adorned with small pale orange and very bright golden flowers. It forms a compact and leafy clump that is pleasantly aromatic when crushed. Robust, relatively hardy, particularly healthy, not demanding, this perennial that combines qualities brings a touch of luxuriance to unpretentious borders. It thrives in the sun, even in cool climates, in well-drained soil that is not too dry to support its beautiful flowering.

The hybrid Agastache 'Kudos Gold' is a plant from the mint family, related to salvias, catmints and thymes. This herbaceous perennial, relatively hardy for an agastache, forms a dense, upright clump with highly branched stems, reaching a height of 50 cm (20in) and a width of the same, depending on growing conditions, which gives it a more bushy and compact habit than other agastaches. It produces triangular leaves that are 5 cm (2in) long, with toothed edges, dark green, which grow along the length of the angular floral stems. When crushed, they release a complex scent of mint, mixed with licorice and honey. The flowering period extends from May-June to September, without interruption, in the form of upright, colourful and slender spikes. Each small tubular flower, very pale yellow-orange, is surrounded at the base by brown to salmon bracts. This flowering, particularly rich in nectar and attractive to bees and butterflies, attracts a large number of bees and butterflies. This cultivar, 'Kudos Gold', like all the agastaches in the Kudos series, is also distinguished by its good resistance to mildew, even in humid climates.

Easy to grow in well-drained soil, Agastache 'Kudos Gold' can be cultivated in sunny borders with a slightly wild appearance, but also in pots on the terrace. In hot regions, it should never lack water during flowering. A worry-free perennial, it adds height and substance to borders composed of grasses (such as stipas, eragrostis, pennisetums), herbaceous salvias, tall daisies, echinaceas, goldenrods, and asters. It also pairs very well with white, yellow, or orange shrubby potentillas, for example.

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