My Corner Online
Agastache 'Black Adder' | Anise Hyssop
2023 - I am finding no previous notes of when the first bloom occured for this plant in previous years. I will make it a goal to note it next year, but all of my previous photos were taken in July.
The scientified name is Agastache which comes from the Greek words agan meaning "very much" and stachys meaning "ear of wheat" which resembles the flower spikes. (Pronounced ag-AH-sta-kee)
Hyssop is in the Lamiaceae or mint family (Prounounced lay-mee-AY-see-I). This is a perennial. Common names for this plant are Anise Hyssop, Blue Giant Hyssop, Licorice Plant and Lavender Giant Hyssop. My plant is tall so I can see why it is called "giant." The bees love my Anise Hyssop. Anise Hyssop is edible and can be used for potpourri.
'Black Adder" is a hybrid cultivated from crossing A. rugosum and A. foeniculum species. There are considered giant hyssop varieties. (Pronounced roo-GOH-sum) (meaning wrinkled) and (fen-IK-ew-lum) (meaning hay)
Since my Grandma Geile's favorite cookies were anise (black licorice), I wanted to learn more about this plant as such. I learned that Anise Hyssop is not a true anise, which is Pimpinella anisum, and it is not really hyssop either, which is Hyssopus officinalis. Note to self: see if the true plants grow in zone 6b. The common name comes from its scent of anise, known commonly as black licorice, but some interpret the aroma as basil or French tarragon. True Hyssop has been used as a herbal medicine but consuming too much is dangerous, so it is my plan to not play with it as such unless I become fully knowledgeable first.
Hyssop is a Biblical plant (or at least the true version of it) and I found 12 Bible verses containing the word in ESV. Hyssop is associated with cleansing. It is associated with the ceremonial cleansing of people and houses, including cleansing from the plague, leprosy and chest ailments. Hyssop is also symbolic of cleansing the soul from sin.
Exodus12:22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. [Passover]
Leviticus14:4 the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop.
Leviticus14:6 He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.
Leviticus14:49 And for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop,
Leviticus14:51 and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. Lev_14:52 Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn.
Numbers19:6 And the priest shall take cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and throw them into the fire burning the heifer.
Numbers19:18 Then a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave.
1Kings 4:33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.
Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
John 19:29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his [Jesus's] mouth.
Hebrews 9:19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
I scanned the tag in for this Agastache 'Black Adder', commonly known as Black Adder Hyssop, on about August 27, 2020. When I found my .pdf to match the plant, I was happy that I had snapped quick photos of where I put the plant so I could remember or confirm where the plant was located. I am just now setting up my digital garden journal and have hopes that I can preserve the location of the plant in this new method, but I am so happy that I did it in 2020 and left myself a gift! See below photos. (written July 24, 2023) I could find no other older photos of this plant although I was certain I had some with bees on them! I am imagining maybe they were in the garden snippet videos.
