I have been fascinated by herbs for decades. I grow all the culinary standards in multiple varieties. Most are perennials, enduring sleet and hail, often providing green leaves for seasoning through our usually mild winters.

I also grow herbs with traditional medicinal uses, not because I want to dose myself with them but because they are beautiful and fascinating. I love the rich history each one brings to my garden.

Almost all herbs in flower are pollinator magnets, but in my yard, Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) wins the prize for drawing the largest, most diverse array of insects to its abundant flowers. Its sweet, anise-scented leaves add interesting nuances to salads and desserts, and this native wildflower of our prairies also has a long history of medicinal uses.

I grow it because it's beautiful, easy, drought-oblivious, beloved by bees and birds, but despised by deer. Really, can any Piedmont gardener ask more from a plant than that?

Oh yes, it's pretty. It generally grows 3 or 4 feet tall in my beds, continuously producing spikes of lavender flowers. It dies to the ground when the frost hits, but returns early each spring. And it self-sows generously. Young plants are easy to dig up and relocate.

Goldfinches, house finches and chipping sparrows argue over the seeds all day long, even as myriad bees pollinate new flowers, making more seeds.

Some folks might prefer one of the showier Agastache hybrids, but the native species is perfect for my garden.

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