General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 2 -45.6 °C (-50 °F) to -42.8 °C (-45°F)
Plant Height: 24 - 48 inches
Plant Spread: 12 - 36 inches
Leaves: Fragrant
Fruit: Edible to birds
Fruiting Time: Fall
Flowers: Showy
Fragrant
Flower Color: Lavender
Purple
Other: Lavender to purple
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer
Summer
Late summer or early fall
Other: Deadheading flowers ensures more flowering throughout the season.
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Culinary Herb
Cut Flower
Dried Flower
Will Naturalize
Suitable as Annual
Edible Parts: Leaves
Flowers
Eating Methods: Tea
Raw
Cooked
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Butterflies
Hummingbirds
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
Humidity tolerant
Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Stratify seeds: 1 month cold moist treatment
Depth to plant seed: Sow on soil surface.
Suitable for wintersowing
Can handle transplanting
Other info: Good self-seeder
Propagation: Other methods: Division
Pollinators: Moths and Butterflies
Flies
Bees
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Needs repotting every 2 to 3 years
Needs excellent drainage in pots

Image
Common names
  • Anise Hyssop
  • Licorice Mint
  • Blue Giant Hyssop
  • Fragrant Giant Hyssop
  • Lavender Hyssop
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Agastache foeniculum
  • Synonym: Agastache anethiodora
  • Synonym: Stachys foeniculum
  • Synonym: Agastache anisata
  • Synonym: Lophanthus anisatus

Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) was a featured
Plant of the Day for May 30, 2019.
Photo Gallery
Location: My Yard
Date: 2019-06-18
#pollination
Location: Indiana  Zone 5
Date: 2012-10-23
Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C. 
Date: 2014-07-20
 12:58 pm. #Pollination -  Flower segments and Bumble Bee.
Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C. 
Date: 2014-07-20
 12:57 pm. A wealth of strong blossoms on a five foot tall plant.
Location: Nora's Garden - Castlegar, B.C. 
Date: 2016-07-02
 10:02 am. Tucked in the shade, blossoms keep a strong lavender c
Location: My garden in Belgium
Date: 2009-08-03
Location: Maryland
Date: 2014-08-24
Location: My Northeastern Indiana Gardens - Zone 5b
Date: Sep 22, 2011 1:57 PM

Date: 2020-08-27

Photo Courtesy of Prairie Nursery. Used with Permission
  • Uploaded by Joy

Permission granted to use under GFDL by Kurt Stueber

Courtesy of Diane's Flower Seeds
Location: My Northeastern Indiana Gardens - Zone 5b
Date: Sep 26, 2011 3:46 PM
Location: Kyle
Date: 2019-07-02
pollinator favorite

credit: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT
Location: Indiana zone 5
Date: 2014-07-26

Permission granted to use under GFDL by Kurt Stueber
Location: IL
Date: 2011-07-31
Location: Riverview, Robson, B.C. 
Date: 2007-10-23
 3:25 pm. Seed heads of Anise Hyssop. Reminds me of the brush use
Location: My Northeastern Indiana Gardens - Zone 5
Date: 2011-10-18
These are some of the easiest to harvest!
Location: Indiana zone 5
Date: 2014-07-26
Location: My garden in Kalama, Wa. Zone 8
Date: 2014-07-14
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Collingwood Ontario Canada
Date: 2011-07-30
Agastache foeniculum  blooms on a house tour
Location: Sherwood Oregon
Date: 2016-07-02
Location: Sherwood Oregon
Date: 2016-07-02
Location: Lucketts, Loudoun County, Virginia
Date: 2016-04-02
Emerging spring growth
Location: Twisp
Date: 2021-08-23

Courtesy Crownsville Nursery
  • Uploaded by vic
Location: At Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Manitou, Colorado
Date: 2012-08-03
Anise Hyssop in bloom at the cliff dwellings outside of Colorado
Location: Indiana  Zone 5
Date: 2012-10-23
Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Date: 2021-03-22
New early-spring growth from a plant established last summer.

 Courtesy Outsidepride
  • Uploaded by vic

Credit florum
Location: IL
Date: 2008-07-27

Photo courtesy of Select Seeds
Location: Brownstown Pennsylvania
Date: 2016-06-30
Photo by duane456
Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Date: 2011-07-31
full-grown plant
Location: Coastal San Diego County 
Date: 2018-05-10
Location: Western NYS
Date: April 4, 2020
2 yr old Anise Hyssop Emerges
Location: western Oregon
Date: spring 2015
Location: Twisp
Date: May
Location: Darwell Rolling Woods, Alberta
Date: 2007-06-11

Credit florum

Photo courtesy of Select Seeds
  • Uploaded by Joy
This plant is tagged in:
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Comments:
  • Posted by SongofJoy (Clarksville, TN - Zone 6b) on Feb 23, 2012 4:30 PM concerning plant:
    The flowers are cross-pollinated primarily by honeybees, bumblebees, digger bees (Melissodes spp.), leaf-cutting bees (Megachile spp.), Halictid bees (Lasioglossum spp., etc.), and Masked bees (Hylaeus spp.) seeking nectar or pollen. The flowers are also visited by an oligolectic bee, Doufourea monardae. Other occasional floral visitors are Syrphid flies, bee flies, and various butterflies, skippers, and moths.

    Mammalian herbivores normally avoid consumption of this plant as the anise scent of the foliage is repugnant to them. The anise scent may also deter some leaf-chewing insect species.
  • Posted by Marilyn (Kentucky - Zone 6a) on May 25, 2013 6:32 AM concerning plant:
    "Agastache foeniculum, commonly called anise hyssop, is a species of perennial plant in the mint family, (Lamiaceae). This plant is native to much of north-central and northern North America.

    Anise hyssop is in the same family as hyssop (the mint family Lamiaceae), but they are not closely related. Hyssop (Hyssopus) is a genus of about 10-12 species of herbaceous or semi-woody plants native from the east Mediterranean to central Asia.

    Anise hyssop was used medicinally by Native Americans for cough, fevers, wounds, diarrhea. The soft, anise-scented leaves are used as a seasoning, as a tea, and in potpourri. The purple flower spike is favored by bees who make a light fragrant honey from the nectar."

    Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...
  • Posted by Cyclaminist (Minneapolis, Minnesota - Zone 5a) on May 30, 2023 12:15 PM concerning plant:
    This is a North American native species that is often confused with the East Asian species Korean Mint (Agastache rugosa) or Anise Hyssop (Agastache 'Blue Fortune'), which looks like a cultivar of it or a hybrid with it as a parent, and I have seen native plant nurseries use pictures of what looks like the East Asian species and sell it under the name of the North American native species. Many of the photos on this profile look like the East Asian species to me.

    They look quite similar and have a similar anise aroma, but the North American native has glossier leaves that tend to be darker green with teeth that are not as rounded. If you look at the underside of the leaf closely, the North American species is said to have very dense small hairs on the underside, whereas the East Asian species has more scattered larger hairs, densest around veins. (This doesn't seem to hold true for my seedling plants, which I thought were the North American native, so perhaps my hand lens isn't good enough, or it is only true of mature leaves or it is not true of all genetic variants or that my plant is a hybrid between these two species.) The East Asian species often has an indented leaf base (a more heart-shaped leaf) and the leaves tend to be a bit wider in proportion to the length.

    These differences are reported on a PDF produced by Terry Serres for Big River Big Woods, the chapter of Wild Ones in the Twin Cities. It may be that some of these differences are not completely accurate or that there are better ways of distinguishing the species, or that there are hybrids between Agastache species that also need to be distinguished from Agastache foeniculum and Agastache rugosa. I tend to go on the rule of thumb that the East Asian species tends to have denser flower clusters without gaps, and wider leaves directly under the flower clusters, but I am not sure if that holds true either, looking at photos of Agastache rugosa on this site. I think more research on the differences is warranted and hopefully more native plant nurseries will get clued in to this problem and make sure they are selling the genuine North American species.
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Feb 27, 2018 5:51 PM concerning plant:
    The name of "Agastache" for this perennial of the Mint Family comes from Greek meaning "many spikes" and "foeniculum" comes from Latin for "hay." This species has a large native range of all of southern Canada into the Northwest Territory, some of New England & New York down into Kentucky through Illinois to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, & Washington. This is a very easy upright plant for sunny, well-drained soils. It has a small taproot and some spreading rhizomes. It can be divided in spring or fall, but I think this is one of the perennials that can be left alone. The purple flower spikes are about 3 to 6 inches long and do not have a scent, but are very attractive to many kinds of bees and to flies, butterflies, moths, and an occasional hummingbird. It blooms about 2 months and the bloom can be extended some by dead-heading. The crushed leaves have an anise scent and can be used to make a tea. It is sold by most native plant nurseries and by many conventional nurseries also. There are several cultivars. My neighbour across the street has had two of them for about 15 years and they keep doing well.
  • Posted by Catmint20906 (PNW WA half hour south of Olympia - Zone 8a) on Aug 3, 2014 2:41 PM concerning plant:
    Agastache foeniculum has special value to native, bumble, and honey bees, and attracts a variety of bee species including longhorned, bumble, small resin, and leafcutter bees.

    This plant also plays a beneficial role in the garden by attracting predatory insects such as bee flies and soldier beetles. These beneficial insects feed on a variety of common garden pests.
Plant Events from our members
lovesblooms On March 13, 2015 Plant emerged
returned from spring 2014 division of 2012 or 2013 seed-grown plant
duane456 From August 19, 2015 to August 22, 2015 Miscellaneous Event
yellow finches love the seeds
carlysuko On April 25, 2018 Seeds germinated
Seeds germinated
carlysuko On April 9, 2018 Seeds sown
Sowed in a reused yogurt cup. Medium used was jiffy seed starting mix with aquarium gravel on top for drainage.
carlysuko On January 10, 2018 Seeds sown
jhugart On May 22, 2020 Transplanted
Put in the East bed.
jhugart On May 22, 2020 Obtained plant
Acquired six plants from Plant Place at the Roseville, MN Cub parking lot.
» Post your own event for this plant

Discussion Threads about this plant
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Accidentally submitted with wrong captions by BookerC1 Sep 18, 2012 8:06 AM 3

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