Hyssop 'Blue Fortune'
Agastache 'Blue Fortune' · Lamiaceae
A sterile hybrid that flowers for three months without seeding about: thick, powder-blue spikes on sturdy, aromatic plants.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early July to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around hyssop 'Blue Fortune'
The planner designed this bed around hyssop 'Blue Fortune' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why hyssop 'Blue Fortune' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Hyssop 'Blue Fortune' × 3, lavender
- 2 Winter heath × 4, pink
- 3 Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' × 19, pink
- 4 Showy goldenrod × 3, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' × 3, purple
- 7 Spring starflower × 12, blue
- 8 Star of Persia × 5, purple
Why this plant
- The only spires. The others are bells, open bowls, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only lavender.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 12 weeks. From early July to mid September.
- Fills a gap. For 8 of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 33 of the 33 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 54 to 46, left to right. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' and winter heath.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where hyssop 'Blue Fortune' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Because it sets no seed it keeps flowering from July to frost, which makes it one of the hardest-working spires for a sunny bed. Its soft blue cools hot neighbours such as black-eyed Susan and sneezeweed.
- Months of blue in a sunny border
- Butterfly and bee gardens
- A foil for yellow and orange daisies
What to plant with hyssop 'Blue Fortune'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Black-eyed Susan: in flower together for 11 weeks, from mid July.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for 10 weeks, from early July.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about hyssop 'Blue Fortune'
Does hyssop 'Blue Fortune' need sun or shade?
Hyssop 'Blue Fortune' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does hyssop 'Blue Fortune' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does hyssop 'Blue Fortune' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early July to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Early July to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Early July to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid September |
| Zone 9 | Late June to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should hyssop 'Blue Fortune' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many hyssop 'Blue Fortune' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is hyssop 'Blue Fortune' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like hyssop 'Blue Fortune'?
Hyssop 'Blue Fortune' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Anise hyssop: the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour.
- Coneflower 'Magnus': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; pink, not lavender.
- Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; yellow, not lavender.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after hyssop 'Blue Fortune'?
Hyssop 'Blue Fortune' is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue wood aster: from mid September to mid October, 3 ft tall.
- Montauk daisy: from mid September to late October, 3 ft tall.
What does hyssop 'Blue Fortune' look like in winter?
Hyssop 'Blue Fortune' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Agastache
- Anise hyssop Agastache foeniculum
- Hyssop 'Black Adder' Agastache 'Black Adder'
- Hyssop 'Blue Boa' Agastache 'Blue Boa'
- Sunset hyssop Agastache rupestris
- Texas hummingbird mint Agastache cana
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early July to mid September; upright spires; lavender
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Lamiaceae
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.