The Native Plant Store can Now be Found Here

  • This page will remain accessible as a library page until I have all the species moved to the new page and all the quirks worked out in the new software so it can function as a searchable library.
  • Please see the Using the Plant Library  page  for some tips on how to make the most of the information in this existing library to select species for creating a healthy native plant community suited to the conditions of your site.

Agastache foeniculum, Anise Hyssop

Agastache foeniculum

Anise Hyssop

  • Full sun to light shade
  • Average to dry soil
  • 3' to 4' height, 12" to 18" spacing.
  • Ontario Native, Beginner Friendly, Happy in meadows and open woodlands, as well as cultivated gardens.

These are a pollinator magnet!

Bees, butterflies and skippers all enjoy their nectar each July, when they bloom in the Ottawa area.

Their common name is from the intense anise scent and flavour of their foliage, which those who fall into the pro-licorice camp (we have a split household on the topic) would likely enjoy as a warm or cool herbal tea.

One of the members of the mint family, these are in the clumping and seeding, rather than spreading camp, so they integrate fairly easily into garden cultivation while also being perfectly content in a meadow setting.

Happiest in full sun, they can manage with partial shade, although they will be a bit lankier, with fewer blossoms (the plant pictured is currently growing in part shade).

Height tends to be between 3’ and 4’ with a roughly 2’ spread.

They do well in average to dry conditions and will self seed freely if grown in a garden with a lot of bare soil but much less so where the ground is well covered with other plants and/or mulch.

Grown from seed gathered from plants purchased a few years ago at Grow Wild nursery, near Peterborough and seeds purchased from Prairie Moon Nursery.

There is a helpful guide on differentiating Agastache foeniculum from Agastache rugosa and mislabeled hybrids, such as Blue Fortune posted here: https://bigriverbigwoods.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ThreeProblemSpecies_v3.pdf


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Species that were not sown / aren't being sown for 2023 are marked with an * 
Species that are native to this continent, but not historically native to Ontario are marked with a ~ 
While it rarely comes up, I do reserve the right to limit plant quantities, mostly to help ensure that as many native plant gardens as possible become a reality
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