Agastache 'Apricot Sprite"-aggressive

I am looking at Agastache 'Apricot Sprite' to start from seed. I like the looks of it. I am afraid it may get out of hand. I may not get it dead headed as often as it should be. Does anybody grow this or something similar? It's a annual. It is in Select Seeds catalog. Please advise.

here's what Plant Files has to say
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/89605/

doesnt seem like anyone mentioned that it gets out of control.

pretty plant.

I am just reluctant since it is in the mint family. I had mint in a pot in the ground. The pot broke and I had to almost 'sift' the soil to get all the roots out.

Birder17,

If it seeds too much, you just send some to me! I will be happy to help you out! LOL

=)
Necia

I grow some agastaches. I don't have this particular one, but have never had a problem with them running as mints do. The may, if you're lucky, seed about a bit, but have never been difficult to remove if they're in a place that's not where you want them.
Bev

My experience has been the same as Bev's. Actually, 'Apricot Sprite' has been a slow starter for me... or just bad luck... I don't think I've managed to end up with a mature plant yet. Trying again, of course, since I've got a pinch of seed left!

Question. Are agastaches easy to start from seed?

I've had good luck with 'Honey Bee Blue' & 'Honey Bee White' (winter sowing). 'Apricot Sprite' has been more hit or miss, but that may have been due to my seeds.

I lost the plants, Tutti Fruitti, Root beer and Desert Sunrise. If seed grew easily I wouldn't mind the loss so much. Nepetoides is the only one hardy enough for me.

Sorry to hear of your loss, billy. Tutti Frutti is my favorite!

Birder, It is lovely, and I thought easy from WSing. It certainly doesn't grow aggressively, but I won't know until next year if it self sows aggressively. (I did not deadhead one flower. They lasted for a long time, and I really, really liked it.)

Actually, as pretty as it was, with such outstanding color and ornamental foliage, I would give it 5 stars. It was only about a foot tall for me, not sure how tall it's supposed to be and in fact, I'm not even sure it's perennial here. LOL! I just Wsd all the seeds I got and planted them in the garden.

The Agastaches are loosely divided into Eastern (the Honey Bees and blue and whites), and the Western with flowers in the pink, red and coral families. Now that I have grown both, the western ones are the ones I much prefer, but Apricot Sprite is the only one I have. (Until next summer when I will hopefully have a dozen or so Tutti Fruittis :))

Suzy

Illoquin-How long did it take your ws agastaches to germinate? I have some out that I collected from my plants and I can't quit hovering over them. Right now I have Apricot Sprite and Tutti Frutti plus I am getting ready to put some Golden Jubilee seeds out. I would love to find some Black Adder seeds.

I'm so sorry, I don't know whenthey germinated. I wintersowed it, but I did a whole lot of jugs and never noticed which germinated when.

I don't have Black Adder, but I also don't know what it is. LOL!

Suzy

I got BA last year, but planted it in lots of sun-which would probably have been ok had I not done it in the heat of the summer. Bees loved it while it was here, though.
I think that both High Country Gardens and SantaRosa Gardens have it.

OIC, was wondering what you were talking about! (never heard of it) Yes, it looks great....I hate to order online when I have so much seed, though, so those named varieties will just have to wait. :)

Suzy

Suzy,
I have a few golden jubilee seeds that I collected just a week ago. I have no idea if they come true from seed, but wanted to give it a try. I'd send you a few if you want to try, too. Goodness, did they take me forever and my magnifying light to clean, lol!

How nice of you to offer! I haven't cleaned any Agastache yet, but those Salvias about did me in! Each seed wants to stay in its own flowering calyx and not let loose! I ended up keeping about 2 cups of chaff just to throw out and hope it germinates; the cleaned seed goes to trades/swaps.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I have Golden Jubilee (thanks Seandor!) and it's ready to wintersow as soon as the calandar gets closer to spring. I just am sowing random things for indoors underlights now but abot the 2nd week in Feb I'll start in full steam on my wintersowing.

Thank you so much for offering!

Suzy

Funny! I ended up using a craft knife to cut open individual calyxes. My son was sitting close by and said later that the sound of me scraping seeds with the knife drove him crazy. I didn't notice, though. I was trying to keep those tiny suckers on the paper where I was working. I'd hate to get water on the carpet near there in case the vacuum didn't pick all of them up!
It's hard to wait, isn't it? I have so many random things outside right now and it's freezing here. I have put most of the things that have sprouted next to the brick on the house and covered them with some old windows that we scavenged from the Habitat ReUse Center. A cold frame, I guess.
Heading off for work...Elementary school student wait for no one:-)) Have a great day!

For my salvia I just put whole or half stems into a big rubbermaid container and shake hard. Most seeds fall out if well dried. Then I put thru a kitchen colander. Some chaff remains, but no way I'd be patient to cut each calyx.

Karen

OMG, Can you imagine cutting every calyx? LOL! I did put them in a large clam shell and shook and shook and shook, but the seeds are the exact size of my colander holes, so that part didn't work -- they just plugged up the holes. I got it worked out, but it was a lot of effort.

I am still laughing into my sleeve -- cutting individual calyxes.....Oh, my!

Suzy

Thanks for the information about agastache. I think I will try it this year.

I harvested some Agastache Honey Bee Blue this fall, and am going to try to WS that. I did the same as Karen, with the kitchen colander. After everything was pretty dry I was able to rub with my hands and get tons of seeds. And it had a neat licorice scent! And now looking at the Black Adder, I think I'll have to buy some of that this year ~ just got into Salvia and Agastache last spring..... and into WS this winter!

Sanna

This past year, I just cut a bunch of seed heads from my Agastache and put them upside down into a quart yogurt bucket. After letting them dry for a couple of weeks, I rattled them around pretty vigorously, and a bunch of seeds fell to the bottom of the bucket. There wasn't a lot of chaff, and I was able to blow most of it away pretty easily.

Come on y'all...You know that's waaayy too easy,lol! Craft knife *snort*!

Well, but you got EVERY seed! :-)

That's what happens when you don't think to collect seed before the birds do, lol! Since I've never ws'ed before I've never bothered to collect seeds from my own garden. Sounds silly now...but NEXT year...:-))

I was the same way tg about seed collecting. And I'm collecting more for others, because I can just divide what I have. (or should I say so I can get what they have. lol!)
I did have a friend who had the regular agastache foeniculum run amok. She needed hip surgery and wasn't working in her garden regularly for two seasons. No joking, they were EVERYWHERE! But I came in the end of the second season to help her out and they pulled out of the ground ridiculously easy, so unlike other plants, like adenophora, that you have to get every piece of root out when they intertwine amongst other plants , these were no a big deal at all.
Edited, because I only wanted one word bold-sorry to yell!

This message was edited Jan 28, 2008 8:08 AM

Yes, I've had some little winged buddies helping with a. foeniculum, too. I weed them out at the beginning of the season, but leave a few to intermix with my border. Between those and the sunflower heads we leave on the goldfinches are very happy. They fly out of the front gardens whenever we go in or out. I have adenophora, but they get too much shade where they are. They've never gone past those inital few plants that I put in. I would not have thought they could be troublesome.