Agastache foeniculum Seeds | Golden Jubilee
LATIN NAME: Agastache foeniculum
COMMON NAME: Anise Hyssop
Plant Profile
Agastache foeniculum, commonly known as Anise Hyssop, is an upright, aromatic perennial in the mint family. It likes sun, and well-drained soil. During flowering it gives bees and other insects a dependable food source. For the small amount of care it requires, the return is remarkable.
Science & Biotechnology
Within the mint family, Agastache foeniculum is of continuing interest to researchers working on plant diversity, seed biology and the selection of improved garden forms. Aromatic leaves of anise hyssop give it a recognised place in research on aromatic border perennials of mint family, and foeniculum species appears in studies of essential-oil chemistry and pollinator value. Raising it from seed today is a matter of ordinary good practice rather than specialist skill.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Anise Hyssop has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. In sunny border, anise hyssop bottles summer border with purple spikes. Leaves serve teas and flavourings for generations, flowers feed bees and hummingbirds, and plant makes bold, fragrant clump. It grows well in well-drained, sunny ground. Once it has its roots down, it more or less looks after itself.
Giant hyssop has a gentle folk-medicine record in both North America and East Asia: the aromatic, anise-scented leaves are brewed into teas for digestion and summer colds. Its essential oil, rich in estragole and related phenylpropanoids, has been studied for antimicrobial activity.
Growing from Seed
Raising Anise Hyssop from seed is straightforward. Surface-sow onto a light, well-drained compost, dust over a thin covering, and keep evenly moist and sunny until the seedlings show. A spell of cool, moist conditions ahead of sowing brings the seed along nicely and supports even germination. When the young plants are big enough to handle, space them into pots or a nursery row and let them size up before their final move.
Our Take
Anise Hyssop repays a little patience at sowing time with plenty of garden presence later.
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