How to grow hummingbird mint in pots – expert advice for a fuss-free patio plant that bees, birds and butterflies adore

Purple agastache flowers in full bloom during summer.

I have grown hummingbird mint, or Agastache spp., in many gardens where I have worked. In Tuscany, we grew these perennials in a scattering of large terracotta pots alongside other fragrant herbs. The smell, I recall, was quite something.

While it is a plant that prefers to be grown in borders where its roots can spread and roam, I have seen it grow just fine in pots, throwing up spires of colorful blooms and releasing that unusual, almost aniseed scent whenever brushed.