Agastache, Heather Queen II
Answered by: Conrad Richter
Question from: Monique
Posted on: March 3, 2003

Thank you for the helpful information. Regarding the Agastache cana, I wrote what I saw on the Chihuahuan Garden website from the University of Texas at El Paso. I am taking the liberty of forwarding what I read to you. Please let me know if what your Agastache ‘Heather Queen’ is the same as the one from the Chihuahuan garden.

Agastache cana [From the Chihuahuan Garden website; photo from the website shown at right]

Mosquito Plant (Agastache cana)

a.. Common English Names: Hummingbird Mint, Mosquito Plant, Bubblegum Mint

b.. Common Spanish Names:

c.. Scientific Name: Agastache cana (ah-ga-STA-kee KAY-nuh)

d.. Family: Lamiaceae (Mint Family)

e.. Geographic Range: Western Trans-Pecos of Texas and south-central New Mexico in mountains at elevations from 5,000 to 6,000 feet.

f.. Plant Form: Herbaceous perennial 24" x 24".

g.. Remarks: Rose-pink tubular flowers mid to late summer and into fall attract hummingbirds; leaves are aromatic; adaptable to most well draining soils, cold hardy, heat tolerant with adequate water and partial/afternoon shade, medium water.

‘Heather Queen’ is a selection from the Agastache cana species. Like many plants that have been improved upon by breeding, ‘Heather Queen’ has larger and more vivid flowers than the wild species.

Whether the plant in the University of Texas garden is the wild form of the species or one of the cultivated forms is difficult to say for sure because the picture of Agastache cana from the University of Texas website is not clear. However, I would say that the probability is high that ‘Heather Queen’ belongs to the same species as the plant you saw in the University of Texas garden.

As I mentioned previously the common names given by the University of Texas website are not ones that we commonly associate with this plant. Common names, though, are notoriously variable and regional so we cannot be surprised that such names might have been applied to this plant.

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