True Epicure Says

I was at the local Latino/Korean/Ethnic supermarket yesterday, and like all of the other supermarket-type stores in our area, they had plants in front, calling to us plant aficionados. I scanned the racks, and didn’t see anything I needed to have. Down at the bottom of the last rack, I saw a funny looking, frilly-leaved plant that sort of looked like mint, but not quite, and it was labeled in Korean. I didn’t know what it was, and I wasn’t feeling up to trying to track an English-speaking person, so I kept walking. I saw the plant again on my way back to my car, decided it was Shiso, and headed home.

This evening, while trying to decide what my “H” post would be, I opened my borrowed copy of The Spice Lover’s Guide to Herbs and Spices. It is organized alphabetically, so I flipped to “H”. Hyssop officinalis was the first thing I saw. I moved to the facing page, to Anise-Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum, and saw a picture of the leaves I’d seen at the store!

I currently grow two kinds of Agastache, ‘Apricot Sprite’ and A. cana. I love them immensely. I have at least a couple other varieties in my seed box. I suppose it’s time to think about growing A. foeniculum as well. According to The Spice Lover’s Guide, A. foeniculum is native to North America. (I can always use more native plants in my yard.) I’m reading different reports as to whether A. foeniculum or a similar species is grown in Korea, Thailand, and Laos – but that would explain why it showed up at the store.

I haven’t decided if I’ll buy the starts at the grocery store, or if I’ll start plants from seed. You can bet that in the near future, there will be a post about Anise-Hyssop!