Every week on my radio program, GardenLine, I start the show off with a segment called I Love This Plant/I Hate This Plant. Needless to say, the plants that I love far outnumber the ones that I hate.
As I stood looking at the plant I will feature this week on GardenLine, it dawned on me that I could put these plants on my blog, giving my listeners a place to see a photo of the featured variety and others a chance to read about good plants. Brilliant! And it only took me six years of ILTP/IHTP to think of it.
This week’s plant is Agastache cana, or Texas hummingbird mint. I got mine from High Country Gardens a few years a go, and I got a glimpse at how hardy the plant was when I didn’t get around to planting them before winter hit. All three were left in their 8″ plastic pots on my deck without protection… usually, you’ll have to admit, a prescription for death in New England. They sailed though the winter.
The following summer I watched as the plants bloomed for three to four months – right up until hard frost and they attracted hummingbirds too. I’m in love. Those tough Agastaches stayed in those pots for three years before I finally planted them once we moved to Poison Ivy Acres. In fact, I was so impressed with them that I ordered three more.
Just the facts: zone 5-9, 24 to 30″ tall, 18-20″ wide, pink flowers. Bees love it – see below.
I LOVE THIS PLANT!
