Anise Hyssop filled a sunny corner of my new herb garden.

Growing about three feet high, each of its narrow stems was clothed in aromatic, gray-green leaves.

Where it had come from? I don’t know. It stayed for years, never spreading. Later in summer, flower-bearing spikes appeared, rising maybe to four feet. Each floret was encased in lavender bracts surrounding a tiny white bloom. The bracts remained after the flower had gone – a lavender memory.

Anise hyssop belongs in the Mint family, easiest to recognize for its square stems. Formally known as Agastache, its close cousin is Agastache rugosa, or Korean mint because the leaves have a strong minty aroma.

[AGASTACHE? Pronounce it “AGGa stash” if you like, or – as a friend once told me, ”ah-GASS-tak-ee”. Now that you know, go back to Anise Hyssop to be sure you’re understood.]

This herb is a wild plant thriving across southern Canada and northern U.S. It’s happy wherever it’s cultivated, but pay attention to it so the plants don’t try to take over. Plains Indians used Agastache to ease coughs and colds.

When the leaves develop but before flowers come, harvest some of the foliage, drying them in a dark, dry, airy room I’ve used them in teas, where they yield a faint root beer flavor. Or add them, fresh or dried, to iced tea.

Sun and plenty of water (short of drowning) are the best growing encouragement for anise hyssop. One can gather seed near the end of the flowering season; when a flower spike turns brown, watch for the first sign of falling seed. Cut the stem and turn it upside down into a paper bag to catch that seed.

Some add fresh leaves or flower buds to a salad. Potpourri? Spice it up with dried leaves.

My anise hyssop stayed in one spot, year after year. Around its base, annual poppies bloomed each year. So did borage with its starry blue blossoms, although I had to uproot a crowd of its volunteers.

Somehow, that section of the herb garden got no special design pattern, but went its own way. It was a quiet pleasure, planted by nobody but with its own character.

Has this kind of serendipity happened to other readers?