I've tried several agastache but none compare to Blue Fortune, -fabulous~ My favorite Veronica, although a little hard to find (can mail order), is Pink Damask. It blooms most of the summer about 30" tall - no support - light pink.
I sold my Sunny Border Blue and Red Fox at a plant sale! -Giles Van Hees (I think that's right), is a 12" bright pink Veronica that blooms bigger, nicer, & longer for me than Red Fox.

It's about 20 degrees below our norm so far for Feb.....We just keep teeling ourselves that spring WILL come! -I can't whine to someone who lives in Canada though!!!

Happy planning until you can get out there!

GC

Sharon, I would have to add Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) to that list! ... unless you already have it?
Terry

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Sorry, to be putting more ideas into your head, Veronica longifolia 'Eveline' is an EXCELLENT plant!

http://www.canningperennials.com/acatalog/Veronica___NEW.html

Liatris spicata kobold - I have it, it's nice, but does not bloom for very long, especially when compared to the others.

Salvia nemerosa rose queen - mine is very floppy, and the flowers are just ho-hum. I like most other salvias better.

Blue fortune agastache blooms a long time. Mine spits out seeds and new babies everywhere. It is also a HUGE magnet for stinkbugs, the plant winds up looking like an incubation tank for insect world.

veronica red fox - very nice! long blooming. good color.

I LOVE Liatris, especially Floristan Violet. Drought tolerant, blooms for a long time, and the plant itself always looks nice. One of my favorites. Veronica red fox is short in my opinion, not medium height. Good luck!

Jen

From your short list, I liked salvia the best in my garden for color impact - I used 'Victoria,' but I haven't tried the others. It tolerated drought, resisted most bugs, didn't need pruning (although it might have been better and bushier for a single trim in midsummer), and it had great color (blue-violet). It's an annual. I have perennial salvia 'May Night,' but it's not my favorite - it's straggly and floppy and aggressive, so it needs a hard cut-back at least twice a summer.

My liatris spicata is a long-established favorite. It self sows EVERYWHERE, but is easy to remove with a hoe when it sprouts. It self-sowed into a container two years ago, I left it, and it's come back strong - it must have an iron constitution. I have the pink-violet species (about 24" tall). I also have the white form 'Floristan' in the back yard - it's a young plant, and not as vigorous as the species so far.

The only veronica I've ever had was 'Giles Van Hees,' a very dwarf plant for me (8" max). It was never vigorous, and got smothered by something more aggressive a couple years ago.

Laurel

Oh boy!! I think I'll have to add that Culver's Foot to my wish list! That is fantastic.
Don't have spikes in my garden but adding this year (their all being wintersown right now)....Liatris spicata, Veronica spicata and Agastache.

Vera

I prefer salvias to any of the others named, and have probably a dozen different types in my new garden.

Actually, I guess that's by default... rabbits devour any liatris I plant, I don't care for the look of veronica (to me it looks weedy), and I'm trying my first agastache this year (I'm in zonal denial). Perhaps that's why I'm such a fan of salvia?!

what great input! OK I've narrowed it down to:

Agastache Blue Fortune
Salvia Caradonna which I have
Veronicatrum virgincum Fascination or Album (thanks twrosz. By the way I love Canning Perennials they are 20 minutes from my house!)

I think in another bed I'm also going to add some veronica longifolia "eveline" as it seems a nice hot pink which I could use among my purples and yellows in that bed.

Thanks again all.

Eremurius is very nice-this picture wasn't in its best stage. The white really catches the eye at night too

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Hoyess, lucky you for having Canning Perennials so nearby! You will love Veronica longifolia 'Eveline' ... though, it's not quite the color shown on the Canning website, try this link for what I'd call the true color.

http://www.vanbloem.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_ID=1176

For me agastache has been the most carefree of the orginal list. It's always is upright, tolerates disease and has a great winter interest. I love it but have to admit it's not the showiest plant in the garden.

Salvia is a close second but is a little floppy. Liatris has been short lived - mostly I think due to predation from voles. Most veronicas have suffered from foliar disease. I loved 'Pink Damask' and leaves stayed clean but it died it's 1st winter.

Culver's Root is a mainstay in the garden here but I was dissapointed in 'Fascination'. The stems are slightly twisted (fasciation - hence the name) and it fell over a bit. 'Apollo' is probabably my favorite.

Check out Phlomis tuberosa 'Amazone' for a differant looking spike.

Ted

Ted, I had wanted to mention that I too am disappointed in 'Fascination' ... I will now look into 'Appollo.

Terry

I like the Agastaches for their length of bloom and good foliage. In my garden, the Liatris doesn't bloom that long but the foliage is different. Salvia Carradonna has one big bloom for me and a tiny bit of rebloom in the fall. Never had good luck with Veronica SBB-it withered away. I do like Veronica 'Royal Candles' though.

Have you thought about one of my favorite spikey flowered perennial, Persicara amplexicaulis 'Firetail'? Blooms from July to October. It is a bit tall, but another cultivar 'Taurus' looks the same and is a bit shorter and more compact. I don't see much of a difference though.
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wow monique beautiful. I looked it up and it would do well as well. Not sure how I missed that one as it too is deer resistant and it looks like I can get both locally.

@mazerolm
This is a really old post, but some interesting plants to research :)