Hi Cathy,

I'll try three or four up here in the Northeast, will see if they work. My email is above, let me know how to get the Postage to you.
I saw these at the nursery and they are beautiful looking plants-I hope they work because not to many I did choose did work.Other than the butterfly bushes, nothing else worked. I have plans worked out for next year to change the plants and see what happens.
Thanks!
Aggie

They are great bee plants. If you want them to pollinate some of your other flowers in your garden, they will attract the honeybees. Mine just self-sow here in my garden - not prolifically or out of hand, but I can always count on two or three plants.

Just wanted to add that to "beef up" the good things about this plant for others to consider. I like having them for that reason. They also attract the skippers in my garden, too, but I'm further south, so that may be why I get more activity on them. Also, the favorites vary from year to year. I saw a bumblebee on my hardy begonia just this morning. I didn't think that anything at all liked begonia flowers. It is a species (I think it is Begonia evansiana). Anyway, it is hardy to zone 6 and maybe 5 with protection. I've never seen anything EVER on this plant, so it really does depend on the year. This year, I've seen little activity on my lantanas - go figure!

Susan

Aggie, Please check your email. I just sent you one. :)

Susan, Thanks for putting a plug in for the plants. ;-) I neglected to mention that Cabbage Whites go to them in droves, but I already had them in droves, so I didn't even think about mentioning that they do at least get that kind of butterfly. Yes, I've also had lots of honeybees on them and also bumblebees. I guess since you have back problems yourself, you can understand my wanting to ligten my load. I have to read up on this degenerative disc disease more or maybe it would just depress me depending what it says. All that I know is that my back keeps hurting more and more, so I'm trying to look at a few things to see how I can make things better for me.

I don't know if it's like you mentioned that the skippers come to your anise because of you being further south. I didn't see any on mine at all. I did see a Monarch on them once, but I'd hardly call that a big attractant for them with just one. :)

Ha, yeah, I didn't really know that anything liked begonias. ;-) I got one lantana plant last year to try. It was the New Gold (I think that's the name anyway) and it didn't attract ANY butterflies at all, just sat there. So then someone said that the butterflies really like the multi-colored ones, so I bought one of those this year. Same thing, NO butteflies on it, so I'm done with the lantana. I've seen lots of people rant and rave about how well they attract butterflies. I guess my butterflies are weird. Ha. Anyway, there goes another one off of my list. A person doesn't know until he/she tries. I'm not going to try something over a period of years. One or two years and if they don't work, out they go. I suspect that I won't feel like digging garden too much longer, so I want to get the things in place this year and next year what I want to have here.
Cathy

I have two people interested so far. Anyone else?

I'll also help sell the plants--skippers love these! I've even a couple of monarchs on them once in a while. They are so easy--we've been in a drought for a couple of months, and they are just showing signs of stress. Great to fill in areas or a spot in the back. Beautiful green leaves and pretty spires of purple that are the first to bloom and really keep blooming all summer. Good for the bees, and we all need to help bees out (if we like to eat!).

You're almost talking me into keeping them now! ;-) I'm telling ya, I must have strange butterflies because they don't like some things that other people say they like. I've never seen any skippers on them and I have pretty many skippers. Thanks for telling the experiences you've had with this plant. I haven't had anyone else email me and I hate to toss the plants but I guess it's not the end of the world. I think I'll wait a little because I do still have bee activity at them.
Cathy

Yea, they were my suprise nectar superstar of the year.

They have a long bloom period, and are still blooming, and when they were hitting their peak they attracted more butterflies than anything.

Since summer the Clerodendrum and pickerel weeds have been a constant attractor of slow and steady swallowtail and hummingbird activity, but the Agastache have been bloomin' nearly as long and attracted a much larger variety, and swarms of friendly insects.

Favored nectar sources just vary from year to year. One year they swarm to the coneflowers and pentas, but the next year the swarm to the Agastache and Agapanthus, then next year it will be the Hamelia and and Asters, as they ignore the previous year's favorite.

Also the change in cultural conditions are different every year and this may produce the optimal environment for different nectar producing plants from year to year, so that one year every thing is right for one to overflowing with nectar, but then the next year the wind, rain, and temps, are better for another species to produce copious amounts of nectar.

The only Agastache I have is "Blue Fortune" which I love! It is not one of the biggest butterfly attractors in the yard, but it has very high wildlife value nonetheless. There are always dozens of bees on the blooms. Also, this time of year I often see the Goldfinches perching on the stems, eating the seeds.

If you can't get rid of your extras to Gardenwebbers, have you considered putting an ad on your local Freecycle, or even giving some to neighbors? I had a Spiraea and Forsythia I wanted to get rid of, put an ad on Freecycle and by 4:00 the next afternoon a guy came and dug them up and hauled them away in his truck! :)

Hi Cathy,

I'll take a few off your hands. I think I still have your address to send the money to. What else are you thinning?

Janet

That's right terrene! I forgot about those darling finches! Warmed my heart up the other day to watch how well the finch could balance on the plants and eat away at the seeds.

It is true that butterfly tastes change from year to year. I've almost come to the conclusion that I should try something at least 3 years in the garden before I make a "firm" decision on whether or not to get rid of it. That's difficult for me because I am sorely lacking in lots of sunny space. But, OKSandy told me that the butterflies are going crazy over her strip of New Gold Lantana. Now, last year we all discussed how this particular cultivar did not attract any butterflies at all. But here is Sandy getting tons of them on hers. She just a "few miles" NE of me, so I may give this another try next year and the year after just to see what happens.

Susan

Here's a picture of the Anise hyssop/Agastache foeniculum. They're the blue ones on the right, of course.

{{gwi:534204}}

You can email me at yomamab2002 at yahoo dot com or click on the email link on My Page by my name if you would like some. I'm digging them this week and early next week. $2 each to pay for shipping. I'll take "orders" in the order that I get them and when they're all they're all, so first come first served. Thanks for helping.
Cathy

Hey Cathy, nice garden! I love how much room you have!

Just curious, did you receive my payment yet? I sent it out Sunday instead of Saturday like I wanted to-I just wanted to check..

Aggie

Aggie, Thanks, I'm glad you like it. I could plant so many more things here, but one reason why I don't is $$. Another is time, and another is my back. So I'm pretty much done planting except to fill in empty spots, and I want to plant some trees yet, but there will be no more lawn dug up here.

Sorry I didn't get around to emailing you to tell you that I got your payment. I will send your plants out tomorrow (Thursday), so I'd think you should have them on either Friday or Saturday.
Cathy