Native Plants for Wet Soils : Agastache nepetoides – Yellow Giant Hyssop

Feb 12, 2025 | Native Plant Spotlight

Maryland Native Plants for Wet Soils

 Agastache nepetoides – Yellow Giant Hyssop

anisehyssopp info card

Agastache nepetoides, also called Yellow Giant Hyssop can have large, lower leaves as big as a hearty slice of bread. And depending on the age and overall size of the plant, its flower spike can be up to 16 inches long! The only thing small about this plant are the creamy little flowers that crowd together on the spike. The blooms open a few at a time in late summer, shifting the color to a subtle soft yellow to the lightest shade of purple; overall it is not at all yellow as the name suggests. These understated blossoms are a booming nectar source, though, drawing and sustaining honeybees, bumblebees, Halictid bees, and butterflies throughout the fall season and oftentimes up to the first frost. Although Yellow Giant Hyssop is fairly adaptable, it won’t do well in deep shade or persistantly dry sites. It prefers rich soil in a part shade, but will tolerate full sun if soils are kept moist. In favorable conditions, this plant will slowly spread by rhizomes, creating a strong colony. The foliage is not fragrant like other species in the mint family, but the bitterness of its leaves make Yellow Giant Hyssop deer resistant.

 

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Common Name: yellow giant hyssop
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Lamiaceae
Height: 4.00 to 6.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 3.00 feet
Roots: Rhizomes – colony forming
Bloom Time: July to September
Bloom Description: Pale Yellow to Light Purple
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium to Moist
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Butterflies, birds
Tolerate: Deer
Host Plant and Pollinator Hot Spot
Information from Missouri Botanical Garden & Prairie Moon Nursery.
Yellow Giant Hyssop Plant

Yellow Giant Hyssop Plant

Yellow Giant Hyssop Flower

Yellow Giant Hyssop Flower

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