woodland wildflower

Anise hyssop

Agastache foeniculum

Also known as Blue Giant Hyssop, Blue Giant-hyssop, Fragrant Giant Hyssop, Lavender Hyssop

Native to the Rockies, the Great Plains, and the Midwest and southern Canada

Northern Colorado to Wisconsin, north to adjacent Canada

Light Full sun to shade Sun tolerance
Moisture Moist Moisture preference
Zones 2–8 Cold to heat range
Bloom Jul–Aug Flowering time
Height up to 4 ft to 1.2 m
Life cycle Perennial Annual to perennial

Full details, see below

In the garden

A woodland wildflower for sun through shade and evenly moist soil. At up to 4 ft, it suits shade gardens and woodland edges. Hardy in USDA zones 2–8.

Growing conditions

Light

Full sun Partial shade Full shade

Moisture

Dry Moist Wet

Hardiness zones

Find your zone:

Pollinators & wildlife

Bees Common Eastern Bumble Bee

also Western Honey Bee, Eastern Carpenter Bee, Brown-belted Bumble Bee +55 more
Two-spotted Bumble Bee, American Bumble Bee, Yellow-faced Bumble Bee, Ligated Furrow Bee, Tricolored Bumble Bee, Black-tailed Bumble Bee, Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee, Pure Green Sweat bee, Bombus fervidus, Red-belted Bumble Bee, Hunt's Bumble Bee, Two-spotted Longhorn Bee, Perplexing Bumble Bee, European Woolcarder Bee, Black-and-gold Bumble Bee, Half-black Bumble Bee, Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee, Southern Carpenter Bee, Lemon Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Northern Amber Bumble Bee, Brown-winged Striped Sweat Bee, Nevada Bumble Bee, Yellow-banded Bumble Bee, Sculptured Resin Bee, Oblong Woolcarder Bee, Great Basin Bumble Bee, Rusty-patched Bumble Bee, Modest Masked Bee, Spurred Ceratina, Urbane Digger Bee, Yellowish Cuckoo Bumble bee, Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Dark-veined Longhorn Bee, broad-handed leafcutter bee, Southern Plains Bumble Bee, Orange-tipped Wood-digger, Eastern Thistle Longhorn Bee, Western Bumble Bee, Lucorum-group Bumble Bees, Cryptic Bumble Bee, Forest Bumble Bee, Northern Rotund-Resin Bee, Parallel-striped Sweat Bee, Squash Longhorn-Cuckoo, Fervid Nomad Bee, Northeastern Pebble Bee, Anomalous Metallic Sweat Bee, white-winged sweat bee, Red-tailed Bumble Bee, Xylocopa virginica virginica, Common Carder Bumble Bee, Early Bumble Bee, Forest Cuckoo Bumble bee, Bombus sp., Garden Bumble Bee
Butterflies Monarch

also Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Gulf Fritillary, Red Admiral +45 more
Black Swallowtail, Common Buckeye, Fiery Skipper, Silver-spotted Skipper, Painted Lady, Gray Hairstreak, American Lady, Orange Sulphur, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Great Spangled Fritillary, Spicebush Swallowtail, Common Checkered-Skipper and Allies, Zabulon Skipper, Clouded Sulphur, Eastern Black Swallowtail, Peck's Skipper, Horace's Duskywing, Common Ringlet, Common Wood-Nymph, Dun Skipper, Red-banded Hairstreak, Woodland Skipper, Wild Indigo Duskywing, Tawny-edged Skipper, American Red Admiral, Milbert's Tortoiseshell, Little Glassywing, Polyommatus icarus, Whirlabout, Common Sootywing, Broad-winged Skipper, American Silver-bordered Fritillary, Pink-edged Sulphur, Aaron's Skipper, Plains Branded Skipper, Epargyreus clarus clarus, Wallengrenia egeremet, Protographium marcellus, Limenitis astyanax, Limenitis arthemis arthemis, Papilio cresphontes, Pyrgus oileus, Cyaniris neglecta, Mitoura gryneus, Atalopedes campestris
Moths Salt Marsh Moth

also Snowberry Clearwing, Yellow-collared Scape Moth, Large Maple Spanworm Moth +30 more
Hummingbird Clearwing, Corn Earworm Moth, Eight-spotted Forester Moth, Confused Eusarca Moth, Ipsilon Dart Moth, Green Cutworm Moth, Forage Looper Moth, Master's Dart, Soybean Looper Moth, Dingy Cutworm Moth, Spotted Beet Webworm Moth, Alfalfa Looper, Dark-banded Owlet, Carrot Seed Moth, Barberry Geometer Moth, Arcigera Flower Moth, Tobacco Budworm Moth, Squash Vine Borer, Inornate Pyrausta Moth, Common Carpet Moth, Variable Reddish and California Pyrausta Moths, Dogbane Saucrobotys Moth, American Angle Shades, Orange Mint Moth, Unspotted Looper Moth, Purple-backed Cabbageworm Moth, Dogwood Borer Moth, Knee-joint Dart, Rheumaptera undulata, Mythimna unipuncta
Also visited by
- Flower flies:
  
  Eastern Calligrapher, Common Drone Fly +11 more
  Transverse-banded Flower Fly, Oblique Streaktail, Thick-legged Hover Fly, Virginia Giant Hover Fly, Eastern Hornet Fly, Eastern Band-winged Hover Fly, American Snout Fly, Thin-lined Calligrapher, Hunchbacked Bee Fly, Ocyptamus costatus, Heineken Fly
- Wasps:
  
  Bald-faced Hornet, European Hornet +11 more
  Fraternal Potter Wasp, Western Yellowjacket, Four-toothed Mason Wasp, Common Aerial Yellowjacket, Euodynerus foraminatus, Bramble Mason Wasp, Blackjacket, European tube wasp, Parasitic Aerial Yellowjacket, Parancistrocerus leionotus, Wall Mason Wasp
- Beetles:
  
  Spotted Cucumber Beetle, Goldenrod Soldier Beetle +4 more
  Common Green June Beetle, Oriental Beetle, Banded Longhorn Beetle, Chestnut Longhorn Beetle
- Birds: American Goldfinch
- Hummingbirds: Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Butterflies that use this plant

Documented host and nectar records. Each links to a planting guide for that butterfly.

Full plant details

Where it grows

Habitat: WoodlandThe wild plant community it grows in.
Native range: The Rockies, the Great Plains, and the Midwest and southern CanadaUnited States (9): CO, IA, MN, MT, ND, NE, SD, WI, WY. Canada (4): AB, MB, ON, SK. Where it grows wild on its own, by state and province.
Native distribution: Northern Colorado to Wisconsin, north to adjacent CanadaThe same native range, usually more exact than the state list, and often noting where it has spread beyond it.

Growing conditions

Light: Full sun to shadeHow much sun it takes, from full sun to full shade.
Moisture: MoistThe soil dampness it prefers, from dry to wet.
Hardiness zones: USDA 2–8 · Canadian 2–7The cold-to-heat climate range it survives.
Soil: Sandy, well-drained soilsThe soils it grows in naturally.
Soil texture: Light to medium (sandy to loamy)The soil grade it prefers, from sand to clay.
Soil pH: Mildly acid to mildly alkalineThe acidity to alkalinity it tolerates (7 is neutral).

Growth & form

Height: up to 4 ft (to 1.2 m)Typical mature height.
Spread: ~1 ft (0.4 m)How wide one plant gets, a guide to spacing.
Life cycle: PerennialWhether it lives a single season (annual), two (biennial), or returns for years (perennial).
Growth rate: RapidA relative ranking versus other plants of the same type (USDA), not an absolute rate.

Flowers, foliage & fruit

Type: WildflowerWhat kind of plant it is.
Bloom: Jul–AugWhen it flowers.
Flower color: Blue, PurpleThe bloom color, or colors.
Fruit/Seeds: NutletsThe seed or fruit it sets after flowering.
Toxicity: None knownWhether any part is poisonous to people or pets.