Why I Oughta...

In my Fall Planting sprint last year, I planted a pair of Agastche 'Blue Fortune' perennials in my mixed bed IB2DWs .  These were sort-of tucked in behind some Hakeonechloa All Gold Grasses and in front of a row of Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses.  Roy Diblik - up at Northwind - talked up Agastache, so when I saw it on close-out, I grabbed two.   They mostly just hung out in the background all Spring, but in the past week-or-so, they exploded with some blue/purple bottle-brush like blooms standing tall and proud.  Below is a photo showing the blooms and overall height of the plant: They're billed as being great for pollinators and true-to-the-description, when I was out there looking at these on a recent morning, they were being buzzed-around by some insects.  You can see them if you look closely: More of this, Jake.  Fall planting will be here soon enough. 

Another day, another award-winning perennial that takes me outside my foliage-gardening comfort zone.  This time, it is Agastache 'Blue Fortune'.  And I bought and planted a pair in the original IB2DWs bed in front of the Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses that make up the back border.  Just like with others...I know OF Agastache.  But, a quick spin online sold me on Blue Fortune.  From Bluestone : Oodles of soft lavender-blue flowers are held over large deep-green, minty licorice-scented foliage. Unique bottle-brush like flowers of Agastache are very attractive. Leaves feature silver undersides. Exceptional performance in the sun-drenched garden.  Low maintenance, tolerates heat and drought once established. Butterflies and hummingbirds love to sample the nectar rich blooms.  2004 Great Plant Picks award winner. Done and done.  I took the two they had.  And put them in the IB2DWs bed amongst the Creeping Jenny and All Gold Hakenchloa Forest ...

Editor's Note: While this post is going up in mid-July, the first photo showing this blue bloom in our garden are from mid-June.  I wanted to get this into the [garden diary] before I forgot about it.    Last year, we bought and planted a single ground cover plant from Northwind Perennial Farm in Wisconsin that has blue blooms called Campanula Poscharskyana or Blue Waterfall .   I stuck it into the little understory garden behind the River Birch clump and amongst some other Roy Diblik-sold plants.   Northwind calls this Campanula 'vigorous' and after one season, I'd say that's true. Below is a photo showing this groundcover in mid-June 2023 in what I'd consider full-bloom. As you can see, it is spreading out in every direction with blue/purple-lined runners.  And has a cluster of green foliage in the center that is taller than those runners.  We don't have a ton of flowers in our garden, so having this in bloom is nice in this section....