Digging deeperPlant Library

Joyful Hyssop flowers

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Other Names:  Rootbeer Plant, Licorice Mint, Hummingbird Mint

Description:

This variety produces airy, fragrant spikes of lavender-pink flowers; strong, upright form is great in borders and containers; for the best performance plant in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun

Ornamental Features

Joyful Hyssop features airy spikes of lightly-scented pink tubular flowers with lavender calyces rising above the foliage from mid summer to early fall, which emerge from distinctive hot pink flower buds. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive fragrant pointy leaves remain grayish green in color throughout the season. The white stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes

Joyful Hyssop is an open herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

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.

Joyful Hyssop is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Herb Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Joyful Hyssop will grow to be about 32 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 26 inches. It tends to be leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and should be underplanted with lower-growing perennials. 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 should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for poor, alkaline soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selection of a native North American species.

Joyful 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. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.