Anise Hyssop
Anise hyssop is a tender perennial herb that can be used to great effect in the landscape and harvested for medicinal uses. Gorgeous bushy spires of purple color that bees and hummingbirds love.
JOY MAX QUALITIES:
Mature heights are between 2-4 feet with a spread of 1.5-3 feet. True statement plants with a bushy growth habit and towering purple spires of flowers that will usually be covered in bees.
Also called fragrant, lavender, or blue giant hyssop, this is an aromatic herb. The leaves have a refreshingly sweet smell and taste, like a combination of anise, licorice, and mint. The flowers themselves have no aroma. The leaves and flowers make a refreshing, fruity tea, and can be added to salads.
Sometimes called hummingbird mint as it appeals to hummingbirds and other pollinators with long proboscis that are drawn to the nectar-filled towers.
If you want a lot of this eye-catching herb, it’s easy to propagate, divide, and it also reseeds easily.
Once established, you barely have to worry about it. It is part of a water-wise landscape.
Open-Pollinated
Planting Information:
A. foeniculum seeds germinate well after exposure to cold and moist conditions. This process is called cold stratification.
The best way to start seeds is to sow them directly into the garden in early fall, so they can experience natural cold stratification during the winter months. In Austin, we do this in the fall. Unlike many seeds, those of A. foeniculum need light to germinate. Moisten the soil and sprinkle them on top about three inches apart, then gently press them down. Keep the soil moist over the winter months, watering just before it completely dries out. In the spring, the seeds will sprout. When the seedlings have at least two sets of true leaves and are fairly sturdy, thin them to a distance of 1.5-2’ apart to give them lots of space to reach their full size.
