Agastache-High Country Gardens

I recently rec'd my 2008 High County Gardens catalog and they have tons of neat looking Hummingbird and Butterfly plants. I love the photos of their Agastache varieties (especially 'Ava', listed as a cross between Agastache cana and Agastache barberi )-most of them are listed for zone 5 with a few for zone 4. I'm in zone 4 and of course, all the ones I want are for zone 5. I emailed them to see if they felt these plants would survive here in zone 4 and they responded quickly (within a few minutes, I might add)-the gal who answered thought it would probably be worth a try with winter protection. I'm just wondering if anyone around here has been successful with Agastache in zones 3 and 4 (my cabin is in zone 3 and I have lots of hummers up there). I haven't purchased anything from High Country Gardens http://www.highcountrygardens.com in the past, but they have a good Garden Watchdog rating and the prices seem good. Any input is appreciated-
Thanks!
Deb

This message was edited Feb 16, 2008 8:39 AM

I'm zone 8b so obviously can't help you with whether the Agastache will do well in your area (although I plan to add some to my hummer/butterfly garden), but I can tell you I've made purchases from HCG and have had VERY good service from them. They send very healthy plants that are packed very carefully. Last year I ordered 3 butterfly weeds from them and one got damaged in shipping. I emailed them and they quickly sent me the replacement--three more butterfly weed plants! THAT'S good service!

Agastache rupestris is a good one for hummingbirds, I have it in my garden, and DG Plant Files says it is hardy to zone 4a. That might work for you.
Nancy

If your soil is very well-drained you will have better luck overwintering agastaches.

Hi, D., I can't really answer your question either, but here's a report from the RHS trials about agastaches that may give you some insights.

http://rhs.org.uk/plants/documents/Agastache_seed2004.pdf

Some agastaches are easy to grow from seed, too---I just threw some out last year and I got bloom the first summer. And I'm a seed sowing klutz.

High Country is a good outfit to purchase from, in any case.

And here is a BBG article that lists several other agastache suppliers. http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/plants/2004su_agastache.html

Good luck with the hummers. (-: t.

Thanks for all your insights and information, you guys! I will be trying a few of the zone 5 varieties in drier locations and see what happens!

Deb
I've purchased from High Country Gardens about five times over a three to four year period and have always been very satisfied.

Deb,

I've been ordering Agastaches and Salvias from HCG since spring 2005 and have always been happy. They offer some great varieties too.

I make sure I don't cut back any of the stems until I see the new Spring/Summer growth. I make sure the soil is very well drained and has coarse sand added to it. (all purpose sand I get from Lowe's inside store).

Marilyn