Agastache 'Blue Fortune' And Other Small, Unthirsty New Acquisitions

 I bought a 4" Agastache 'Blue Fortune' maybe a month ago.  I've read several blog posts on favorite blogs raving about how good a plant it is.  Well, it is good.  Small, unthirsty plants have been the theme of recent acquisitions. 
 A few years ago I tried an Agastache 'Acapulco-something'--it bloomed for a month or two then suddenly died.  That put me off Agastaches for a while.  I liked 'Blue Fortune' so much I impulse-bought A. pallida x rugosa 'Globe Trotter'.  We'll see how that one goes. 
Indulged also in a little Pentas for the butterflies, for a small spot with poor drainage, and thus sufficient moisture. 
 And pink Salvia microphylla x greggii 'Dancing Dolls' for an empty spot next to pink 'Belinda's Dream'.  I'm not sure I love S. microphylla, because 'Hot Lips' grows way too large, but 'Dancing Dolls' ended up in the garden anyway.  How does that happen?  The hummingbirds are already at it, small though it is.  The garden has been mobbed with hummingbirds--they are not just at the feeders.
Salvia 'Red Dragon' is preparing a new round of flowers.
 Besides Salvias and the Agastache, the hummers are at the Iochroma...
 ...and the Fuchsias...
The Dasylirion flowers are finally opening and appear to be a kind of dark red--it's difficult to tell because they are about twelve feet (3.6 meters) above the ground.  For a closer view, a ladder will be required.  Most certainly not thirsty, and not a new acquisition, and by no measure "small".     
 That's some of what is going on in the garden this cool, grey, overcast week.  Thank heavens for the heat relief.


Comments

  1. Hi Gail, I am looking more into drought tolerant plants as well and really like your Agastache 'Blue Fortune'. The Salvia microphylla x greggii 'Dancing Dolls' is also very pretty. It will be very lovely together with 'Belinda's Dream'.
    Wishing you a nice weekend!
    Christina

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    1. The 'Blue Fortune' seems like it will be great, though I've only had it maybe a month or six weeks.

      Happy Holiday weekend to you also, Christina!

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  2. Beautiful flowers dear Hoover, I love the apricot/orange colour of the flowers in image #6, is it a Salvia or an Agastache? The Agastache come in a beautiful range of colours, the blue is very pretty.
    xoxoxo ♡

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    1. The image #6 are the bracts of Salvia 'Red Dragon'. The flowers are a deep orange, almost red. In habit and flower form it is very similar to 'Wendys Wish', just a different color flower.

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    2. Thank you, it is very pretty.
      xoxoxo ♡

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  3. The Dasylirion flowers look interesting. Great colour.

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  4. Iochroma, you are my new crush.

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    1. The flowers remind me of the little skinny macaroni that come in Kraft Mac & "Cheese". Only purple.

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  5. This extended period of cool weather has been wonderful - last year we had heatwaves and this year its "unseasonably" cool. My own admonitions against spring planting collapsed with my trip to Santa Barbara 2 weeks ago. Today, I invested in 2 new Agastache myself. Like you, I've had mixed results with them but I couldn't pass up A. 'Summer Glow' when I saw it at Roger's. I was there for the Saturday morning seminar (which I guess is the gardener's equivalent of saying "I buy Playboy for the articles") and I had only 2 items of my shopping list but, hey, my resolution had already been shredded and I have all that stored rain water...

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    1. That horrible heatwave last May--that was memorable. I've been reveling (and working) in the cool weather, but apparently its going to be over at the end of the week. :(

      'Summer Glow'--mmm! Don't have that one...

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  6. Agastaches are very short-lived for me and thus never bulk up into giving the great performances I see in other gardens/blogs. It's possible I overcrowd them (ha!) or don't give enough water to get them established their first year. Your BF will reseed! For blue I've moved into lavender and nepeta this year, never iffy, always reliable. I see Hot Lips blooming in hell strips on my street, many years in a row, whacked back hard, so that greggii is a long-term investment. I don't like their twigginess in winter in my small garden, but so many good varieties out there.

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    1. I will be interested in getting some BF seedlings, I would certainly plant them all over. I cut Salvia 'Hot Lips' to the ground over winter, it is already 3' again.

      You, overcrowd plants?!?

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  7. Never seen before Dasylirion flowers, it looks quite unique. The Salvia 'Red Dragon' another specialty I do not know. Iochroma we have here as potplants but are difficult to keep, our climate is too wet and cold. Fuchsias and Agastache are easy plants for us.
    Interesting post again.

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    1. Iochroma I think like plenty of moisture, it is the cold they do not like. Interesting that some plants can do well in such different climates.

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  8. That Fuchsia [swoons]. In the ground, yes? It looks very, very happy [says Capt. Obvious. Your plants ALWAYS look happy.] I love the Dasylirion. It was cold and rainy/misty/overcast all day here -- an odd May, but I'm not complaining.

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