Blue(?) Bottlebrush Blooms

Monica of Garden Faerie's Musings visited the Lurie Garden in downtown's Millennium Park on Sunday during her visit to Chicago a couple of weekends ago. She wrote about her visit on her MLive blog, Full Bloom. I haven't been to the Lurie Garden yet, or Millennium Park for that matter. Quite the homebody, I don't get out much! When I'm not working I spend as much time at home as possible, especially in my own garden.

Anyway, Monica posted some lovely photos from her visit to Lurie Garden. The first shot in the post is of Agastache 'Blue Fortune.' Check it out, then compare the bloom color to the same plant in my garden. I wanted that blue, but this is what I got instead:

Well, this is sort of what I got. I didn't enhance this photo at all, yet the blue in the photo doesn't accurately depict the color of these blooms. They're really more the color of dirty dishwater.

They don't look like this either. I took the first shot in the early morning, and this one later in the day, right after sunset. I've tried at several different times of day, and can't capture the dull color of these blooms on camera.
Agastache 'Blue Fortune' is also know as Anise Hyssop. The foliage is very fragrant, and when crushed smells distinctly of anise. It's described on the tags that came with my three plants as follows: "Beautiful spikes of flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden. Add the aromatic foliage to teas, salads, and drinks for a sweetly spicy flavor. Prized for is neat habit, long bloom season, and heat and drought tolerance." It's estimated height is 24-36", and recommended exposure is full sun.

The anise hyssop here is planted in the shade. In it's second summer in our garden, it's over three feet tall and blooming profusely in spite of its less-than ideal light conditions. It's just the color of these flowers that bugs me. They're dull. Dull, dull, dull. Oh, and did I mention they're dull?

There are a number of plants recommended for sun that bloom admirably in part sun, and occasionally, even in full shade. Other examples include some daylilies, phlox, and coneflowers. For example, here's 'Ruby Giant' in the shade with about an hour of dappled afternoon sun in our garden:
There's nothing ruby, or giant, or purple about this coneflower. In this case, I enjoy this demure, pretty, pale pink flower, and I don't think the finches will care what color it was when they're enjoying it's delectable seeds.

I'm thinking about moving the hyssop in the fall to a spot where there's a little more sun - in front of the 'Herbstsonne' Rudbeckia,and behind the 'Goldsturm.'The rudbeckias are planted in the sunniest part of the garden, (still at best part sun.) I wonder if moving the hyssop would perk up the color of the blooms. This fall I hope to move lots of things around in our garden. It's been more of a nursery than a garden as I've been collecting plants and experimenting with what and where to grow stuff in this dry, shady garden these first years I've lived here. I'm very pleased with how well the hyssop is growing and blooming, even in the shade. I love the scent of the foliage, the large size of the plants, and how well they tolerate the challenging conditions of growing in the shallow roots of our large maples. I like the long bloom time. It's just that dull bloom color that bugs me.

Oddly enough, the coneflowers planted in almost full shade are blooming before the ones in part sun. I'm curious to see the buds on the sunnier coneflowers as they open, probably starting in the next few days. I wonder if they'll be brighter in color. I suspect they will. If so that will be even more motivation to move the hyssop and the 'Goldstrum' Rudbeckias.

Do you grow Agastache 'Blue Fortune' in your garden? I'd love to know your opinion of this plant. I'm curious about the color of your blooms, and how that might correlate with how much sun they receive.