Rosie Posie Agastache

If you are new to perennial gardening – perhaps you are tired of replacing annuals every year – then the Rosie Posie Agastache is the perfect place to start. It is certainly one of the easiest perennials to grow, partly because it is super drought-tolerant, so if you are too busy, or just forget to water, no problem! It quickly forms a fat mound of stems, over 2 feet across and 18 inches or so tall, making it ideal for the front of a border, filling part of a rock-garden, or plumping up a planter box. Besides being super-easy, it is also super-lovely, and brings months of color to your garden. Topping each stem is a spike of flowers, lovely pink ones, with a unique dusky look. Not only are the flowers colorful, but look and you will see that each one sits in a darker-pink cup, which stays long after the flower has fallen – a double-color bonus. This means you get flowers from at least mid-summer right into the fall. In hot zones it starts blooming even earlier. A fabulous first-step on the road of perennial gardening, and a great splash of long-term, easy color for every garden lover, so easy to grow you won’t believe your success.

• Generous, full mound of dense foliage 2 feet tall and wide
• Tons of colorful blooms in shades of pink
• Flowers through summer and into fall
• Adored by butterflies, bees and hummingbirds
• Very drought tolerant and easy to grow

Plant the Rosie Posie Agastache in full sun, in any well-drained soil. That includes drier, sandy and rocky soils, which are actually preferred in cooler zones. It will grow from zone 5 to zone 9, covering most of the country, and thrives in heat and sun – bring it on. It also grows well in alkaline and limestone soils, if that is what you have. You can add a bit of compost when planting, but it’s fine if you don’t have any. Water deeply when planting, and give it some water twice a week for the first couple of months, and then it will thrive without any attention at all – really. Deer don’t eat it and we have no reports of pest or disease problems. In fall just cut it down to an inch or so above the ground, and next spring it will bounce right back, giving you years of great garden color.