Anise Hyssop is a perennial medicinal herb, long valued for its traditional uses. It's hardy across USDA zones 4 through 8, stands up to deer and grows just as well in a container as in the ground. Its summer flowers are a real draw for honeybees, native bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Anise Hyssop — the short answer
Anise Hyssop: grown in zones 4–8, full sun, pH 6–7.5, about 90 days to maturity.
- USDA zones
- 4–8
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Soil pH
- 6–7.5
- Growable Ground Plant Database
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Growable Ground Plant Database
- Days to Maturity
- 90 days
- USDA-NRCS; PrairieMoon
- Frost-kill temperature
- -30°F
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score Anise Hyssop on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether anise hyssop actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score anise hyssop against your land's real conditions.
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What Anise Hyssop is
Anise Hyssop grows as a perennial and reaches around four feet at maturity. It blooms purple in summer. It's also deer-resistant and well suited to containers.
How to grow Anise Hyssop
Anise Hyssop grows in USDA zones 4 through 8 and is ready to harvest about 90 days after planting. Anise Hyssop does best in full sun — at least 6 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 6 to 7.5, on well-drained ground. It needs around 900 growing degree days to mature and a growing season of at least 100 frost-free days, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
4-8
USDA PHZM 2023
Soil pH
6 - 7.5
Growable Ground Plant Database
Sun
Full Sun
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
well (dry spells)
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost Kill Temperature
-30°F
Where cold starts killing growing tissue. Not a winter-survival floor — a dormant perennial takes far colder, which its hardiness zone answers.
Growable Ground Plant Database
Days to Maturity
90 days
Anise hyssop; native perennial; cold strat 30-60d; pollinator favorite.
USDA-NRCS; PrairieMoon
GDD Required
900+
Growing degree-days of accumulated warmth it needs to mature — humid summers reach this faster than cool coastal ones.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Mature Height
4 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
100+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Start the season right
Plant anise hyssop in full sun with at least 6 hours of direct sun. It grows in the cool halves of the year, so sow it in spring or late summer rather than waiting for midsummer heat.
Match the soil
Anise Hyssop prefers pH 6 to 7.5 (Growable Ground Plant Database). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. A 2–3 inch mulch layer holds moisture without waterlogging.
Harvest at its peak
Harvest the part you grow anise hyssop for — flower, leaf, or root — at its seasonal peak.
Where Anise Hyssop thrives
Anise Hyssop is hardy across USDA zones 4 through 8. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 4–8 spans average winter lows from -30°F to 20°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers 25 outright and splits 26 more down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 4–8·Where Anise Hyssop growsOpen map →
Where Anise Hyssop stands, state by state
Anise Hyssop is rated for zones 4–8 — a cold floor USDA puts at -30 to -20°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 25 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 26 more, and 0 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
Fully inside zones 4–8
25 states
3 of 25 shown
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Anise Hyssop
Growing guides for anise hyssop
In rotation planning, anise hyssop counts as a Other — beds recover best when other crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Good to know
Good news for pet owners — anise hyssop isn't known to be toxic to dogs or cats. (Source: ASPCA.)
Anise Hyssop is a standout pollinator plant — high value to bees and other pollinators. (Source: Xerces Society.)
Before you harvest anise hyssop, know your soil
Anything you grow to eat takes up what's in the ground it grows in, so it's worth knowing what's documented near you before you plant anise hyssop for food. Our free screen reads 9 federal source types across roughly 1.8M indexed sites and shows which sit near your address and which way they drain. It's a screening estimate from public records and proximity — not a soil test — so a nearby record means a soil test is worth it, not that your soil is unsafe.
Your land is one point inside Anise Hyssop's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Anise Hyssop will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether anise hyssop actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about Anise Hyssop
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•USDA PHZM•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Anise Hyssop in my zone?
Anise Hyssop grows in USDA hardiness zones 4 through 8 (USDA PHZM 2023). Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
How long does Anise Hyssop take to grow?
Anise Hyssop is ready to harvest about 90 days after planting (USDA-NRCS; PrairieMoon). Your local frost dates and soil temperature move that window earlier or later.
When should you plant Anise Hyssop?
Anise Hyssop is a cool-season crop, so it goes in during the cool halves of the year — early spring, and again in late summer for a fall planting — rather than at the height of summer heat. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Anise Hyssop need?
Anise Hyssop needs full sun — a spot that catches at least 6 hours of direct summer sun a day. In more shade it still grows, but usually gives a smaller, later crop. The catch is that a yard rarely gets even light everywhere — a fence, the house, or one tall tree can quietly take those hours. A Growable Ground report reads the real sun-hours across your land, canopy and buildings included, so you can pick the brightest bed before you plant.
What soil does Anise Hyssop need?
Anise Hyssop prefers soil pH 6 to 7.5, on well-drained ground (Growable Ground Plant Database). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Anise Hyssop attract pollinators?
Yes — anise hyssop's flowers are a strong nectar and pollen source for honeybees, native bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. (Source: Xerces Society.)
Is Anise Hyssop safe for pets?
Anise Hyssop is not known to be toxic to dogs or cats based on available data. Always supervise pets around new plantings. (Source: ASPCA.)