Plant Finder

Moana Nursery High Desert Plant Finder & Guide

Brand:  Walters Gardens

Description:

A lovely upright perennial with beautiful coral-orange blooms with rose-pink calyxes from summer to fall; drought tolerant once established; a wonderful addition to garden beds, containers or used in cut flower arrangements; low maintenance

Ornamental Features

Guava Lava Anise Hyssop has masses of beautiful spikes of lightly-scented coral-pink flowers with orange overtones rising above the foliage from mid summer to early fall, which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive fragrant pointy leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Guava Lava Anise Hyssop is a dense herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Guava Lava Anise Hyssop is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Herb Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Guava Lava Anise Hyssop will grow to be about 20 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in partial shade to full shade. Keep it well away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Guava Lava Anise Hyssop is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.