I have noticed that there are so many kinds of "agastache," on sale in nurseries and catalogs. I have yet to find the one I really want which I had but did not survive a hard winter... it was large -- very long slender stalks packed full of a pinky-salmon colored flower that smelled SO SO SO good, from a distance even, and it bloomed nonstop enthusiastically from spring through the end of summer and into fall. I note that the ones I have bought so far never get this big or hardy, they are smaller and bushier and seem to have more leaves, less flowers. I am assuming the one I had must have been this huge hyssop because it appears closest... other ideas? I live in E. WA, which is like zone 6.

@marymebo

Welcome! Happy you're here!

I've haven't grown Agastache 'Big Bazooka' before.

It sounds like the pinky-salmon one that smells so good must be Threadleaf Giant Hyssop (Agastache rupestris)

Threadleaf Giant Hyssop (Agastache rupestris)

Hardy to zone 4a and a favorite of mine and others. Very dependable every year. Take a look at the photos in the link. Its one of the taller (and older) varieties.

Here's our database on Agastaches, if you want to look at them. http://garden.org/plants/brows...

High Country Gardens introduces their own and sells Agastaches. http://www.highcountrygardens.... I've gotten a lot of my Agastaches there. They usually have a little more to offer in the Spring than what they have now.

To aid in winter hardiness....Don't cut back the old stems until you see new growth in the Spring. I wait until mid to late Spring before I cut back, in case we get a unexpected late frost/freeze. Agastaches prefer gravel mulches.

The newer and shorter Agastaches don't seem to grow, as well as, the older varieties for me. If I get those, I pot them up in a container for the Summer. I've grown Agastaches in containers for years, as well as, in the ground. Agastache rupestris is a great one for both types of growing.