In recent years, more and more agastaches have appeared in catalogues and many of them are very good plants – but few seem have really taken off and become widely popular. Perhaps this one will prove to be the exception.
This is a first year flowering perennial – if seed is sown early in spring it will flower from summer into autumn – and, as can be seen in the picture, it’s extraordinarily productive. The following year it will start to come into flower earlier.
The spikes of vivid purple-pink flowers open over a long season above fresh green aromatic foliage and are unusually attractive to butterflies, bees and many other beneficial insects. Plants reach about 2ft/60cm and branch well from the base to create a mass of flowers. They’re good for cutting, too; cut when the spikes are about half open and be sure to add flower food to the water. They should last about ten days.
‘Arcado Pink’ is best in full sun and in a site that where the soil is fairly well drained. Good drainage will help ensure that plants overwinter well and start into growth early to begin a long summer and autumn display. Agastache ‘Arcado Pink’ has been awarded Fleuroselect Approved Novelty Status.
Editor-in-Chief of the RHS Encyclopedia of Perennials; writer for a wide range of newspapers and magazines including The Garden and The Plantsman; member of the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee and Floral Trials Committee; author of many books on plants and gardens.
Source: RHS My Garden – Agastache ‘Arcado Pink’: New from Plants of Distinction – Graham Rice
