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Agapanthus(the African lily ) is an architectural , summertime - bloom perennial with glossy , strap - like leaves and tall umbels of showy , funnel - shaped flower that are good for turn out . The nameAgapanthus translates as ‘ the flower of love ’ , from the Greek ‘ agap ’ ( love ) and ‘ anthos ’ ( bloom ) , and bees love the flowers too .
The flowers are typically dark or purple , though there are democratic white and less common gray and pink variety . With a striking sub - tropical appearance , retentive flowering period and an ability to thrive in sunny positions in the garden or in terrace toilet , Agapanthus is an more and more popular choice for gardeners who have the effects of climate change in judgment .
There is a wide range of evergreen plant and deciduous species , varieties and hybrids available for the garden , and careful selection is necessary to match your location and planting conditions . This article provide the gardener with advice on the best ways to grow and wish for this South African beauty in all of its guises .
Agapanthus Care
In the garden
The deciduousAgapanthusrange from to the full hardy to half dauntless , and the evergreen plant varieties are generally the most sore . In all but the affectionate winter localisation , even the deciduous plant life are good protected with a dry mulch of straw as an insurance policy overwinter . The tender evergreen plant varieties can ordinarily be adequately protect through the winter in warmer climate with a couple of layers of sheepskin or a deep stratum of mulch put on around the plants in autumn and removed in outpouring once the danger of frost has past tense .
In pots
In colder area , tender evergreen types should be rise in pots that can be moved to a frost - detached inhuman frame or unheated greenhouse for the wintertime . void wintering pots in a warm place , as this can restrict flowering in the next summertime .
Pots and containers are also useful for growingAgapanthusin gardens with soil that is prostrate to winter waterlogging , as the plant requires good drainage .
Single plant can be grown in 20 centimetre to 25 cm diam pots fulfil with a mix of two part just - quality , multipurpose compost ( such as John Innes No 2 or No 3 ) with one part horticultural sand , coarse washed gumption , or wash away gravel . instead , three untested plant can be set up together in a 50 cm mint . Agapanthusflowers better when partially root - tighten , so they should be kept in the same pot for at least two to three age before pot them on to an only slightly bigger skunk . Individual plants generally do good in pots that are no more than 30 cm in diameter .
flora in can or smaller container will seldom achieve their full possible size because of the ‘ bonsai effect ’ , and while plants spring up in garden border may take more seasons to achieve true flowering , when they get there , the flowers do seem to be that little bit more spectacular . Having said that , there are a number of modern nanus varieties that are first-class for container use , and which bloom imposingly and faithfully .
Soil conditions
Agapanthusin the garden border also take expert drainage , and do ripe in fertile , well drained , but moisture - retentive soil . Some of the varieties can be grown in slightly less well - drain soil , as long as quite a little of grit is added when planting . They adapt to soils of all restrained pH note value , except for the speciesAgapanthus africanus , which favor an bitter filth .
Light requirements
Both garden and pot - uprise plant thrive well in the full sun , with eight to ten hours of summer sunshine a daylight , though they will tolerate a few hours of fond shade during the heating plant of the warm 24-hour interval .
Watering
Pot - grow plants must be water frequently and well through the saltation and summertime , though they must not be entrust to suffer in the body of water . They do not want any lacrimation between November and March when they are in their winter quarter . Garden - maturate plant will also benefit from frequent watering in saltation and summertime as necessary to top up any shortfall in natural rain .
Fertilisers
Agapanthusresponds well to regular feeds , particularly those grown in containers , but the use of N - found fertiliser should be avoided in favour of mellow potassium hydroxide , balanced liquid blends , which will encourage florescence . SpecificAgapanthusfeeds are useable from specialist growers and supplier . begin give in late March and continue every two to three weeks until mid - September .
Pruning
For tidiness , dead or damage leaves can be edit out off at their base at any time of the year with a clean blade or shears . Evergreen varieties should not be pruned , but for one-year maintenance , deciduous varieties can be cut back to within 10 cm of the land once florescence has finished and the foliage starts to die out back in the fall .
To keep a spreadingAgapanthuswithin limit , or to provide a informant of new plants , large clumps growing in the garden or turgid container can be lift in spring every four to six years . Whether evergreen or deciduous , the top one-half of the leaves should be removed in homework , and care must be taken not to damage the roots when lifting the plant . The bunch can be part into two or three pieces using a sharp , sterilised tongue or saw , ensuring that each piece keep growing points with leaves and roots . Each piece of rhizome should be replanted in refreshed and well - gritted soil , 5 cm below the open . Autumn division is also possible , but less certain , and more frequent segmentation and disturbance will almost certainly reduce flowering .
Agapanthus Propagation
In addition to dividing rhizome , species Agapanthus can be propagated by come , though efflorescence is improbable for the first three to four years .
The source pod should be take in in late summer as they start to dry out out and sour brown . Keep them in composition or muslin bags in a wry home until they split naturally , and then the seed should be split from the chaff to be stored in a cool , dry shoes through the winter . They can be sown the next bounce , and should be restrain moist at around 15 ° C until germinated . The seedling will ask to be protect from frost in their first few wintertime in an unheated nursery or cold soma .
refer cultivar will not come true to type and plants from ejaculate are unlikely to reward the crusade and forbearance involved .
Common Agapanthus Problems
HealthyAgapanthusplants spring up in optimal conditions are generally problem - detached , though rootstock frost scathe is a common subject in cold winter , even for the more unfearing types , and less vigorous plant can give in to viral disease and pestis . Yellow leaf tips can point less optimal , waterlogged weather , while pallid leaves or blossom suggest some appropriate supplementary feed is required .
Pests
Amongst the pests , mealy bug or ruby-red wanderer mite can once in a while be a job , though winter spray with an appropriate insecticide or organic preparation is generally in effect .
A Modern pestilence has become apparent since as recently as 2014 . The larvae of theAgapanthusgall midge ( Enigmadiplosis agapanthi ) have distortion , browning or discoloration of flower bud in June to September , though the leaf remain healthy . The larvae experience inside the plant tissue , so restraint with sprays is improbable to be effective .
The plant health squad at the Royal Horticultural Society is studying the midge , and recommend the destruction of infested flower heads , or the whole plant where the infestation is particularly severe . involve plants in pot and container should be taken out , their roots and rhizomes exhaustively make clean , and they should be replant in smart compost in unlike containers to protect them from any pupating or overwintering larvae . The unnatural container should not be used again forAgapanthus , though other types of works will be good .
Agapanthus Varieties
The embarrassment of variety available for gardeners derives from a fistful of coinage that are find in South Africa . Agapanthus campanulatusand its subspeciespatensare from the cooler climate east of the Cape and the Drakensburg Mountains in north - eastern South Africa . They have pale to mid - blue flowers . These mintage are deciduous , and have been used to produce audacious and versatile garden plants .
Agapanthus campanulatus – Imagesource
The species from the warmer climate of the western Cape are part of the amazing diverseness that forms the ‘ fynbos ’ shrubland that grows on sandy , well drained and fairly acidic filth . They keep their foliage in winter , and are generally not as hardy as the deciduous metal money . Agapanthus africanushas deep risque flowers , and is widely distributed from ocean level at the southerly Cape to a kilometre up the Langeberg Mountains , while the closely relatedAgapanthus africanus walshiigrows more locally in the Palmiet valley .
luckily , speciesAgapanthusare now rarely collected from the wilderness for cultivation , as there are so many readily available and more honest diverseness for the garden .
Fully sturdy cultivar descend from the deciduous metal money are recommend for year - pear-shaped outdoor planting . ‘ Midnight Star ’ and the midget ‘ Lilliput ’ are idealistic amongst the blue varieties , and‘Arctic Star’is perhaps the good brave white form . In the other years of popularity , ‘ Headbourne Hybrids ’ was the most widely grown deciduous potpourri , with its reliable presentation of lilac flowers from July through August . With the introduction of raw cultivar and panoptic main horticultural trials , ‘ Headbourne ’ has been link in the popularity conference by other hardy varieties such as ‘ brainy Blue ’ , ‘ Midnight Dream ’ ( with dreary royal flowers ) , ‘ Margaret ’ ( a floriferous powder - racy variety ) and , more lately , ‘ Twister ’ , with its bicolor snowy and blue-blooded peak . ‘ Northern Star ’ also do well , even as a unseasoned plant , freely get its attractive mid - profane flowers with their prominent dark reddish blue stripe .
Agapanthus ‘ Arctic Star ’
The modern , compact varieties ‘ Bluestorm ’ and ‘ Whitestorm ’ are now more and more available , and with a anthesis period of up to 70 days , each mature works producing as many as a hundred spike of unusually large bloom , and some repeat bloom possible through a balmy fall and early wintertime , their popularity is understandable . More unusual hardy multifariousness include‘Midnight Dream ’ , with its very dark purple , almost black flowers .
Agapanthus ‘ Midnight Dream ’ – Imagesource
For cold , less sheltered garden , or for growing the more untoughened evergreenAgapanthus africanuscultivars anywhere other than in the mildest , generally frost - free areas , the plants can be grown in pots that can be moved indoors for the winter .
Good Amytal - flowered miscellanea for summer - only outdoor pot include ‘ Purple Delight ’ , ‘ Lapis Luzuli ’ and the late - flowering ‘ Hole Park Blue ’ . Specialist suppliers offer greater variety , and it ’s deserving looking out for ‘ Hoyland Chelsea Blue ’ and ‘ Tornado ’ . To add variety and interest to the container , think the ‘ Little Dutch White ’ , or the similarly flyspeck ‘ Silver Baby ’ , with its unusual white flowers flushed with gloomy , the dwarf ‘ Gold Strike ’ or ‘ Golden Drop ’ with their golden variegated foliation , and the ‘ Windsor Grey ’ , which offer elusive displays of greyish - white flowers . continue the royal theme,‘Queen Mum’is another of the new white and depressed bicolour varieties .
Agapanthus ‘ Queen Mum ’ – Imagesource
Agapanthus FAQs
The rhizomes are generally available to buy twelvemonth - rhythm from garden kernel and online specialist provider , and are well planted out in outpouring when danger of icing has past : they can also be planted in the early fall .
Plant your new rhizomes approximately 5 cm below land stage in a gay spot . containerise plant life are also widely available for the more popular variety .
The soil is in all likelihood too rich in nitrogen . In such conditions , the plant life grows more roots than leafage , and fails to produce flowers . sum up heap of daystar to the territory to balance the nutrients . You could also settle down prune the plants , and , when doing so , add additional backbone or launder sand to the soil . Do not add any nitrogen - base plant food or compost .
Too much shade , very cold weather , a shortfall of water in the summertime or autumn , and lack of wintertime protection are other potential campaign .
If this is a deciduous variety , then the leaves of course sour xanthous and expire back over winter . forget well be if it has been otherwise healthy and flowered well . or else , if it is in the main performing badly , it could be too congested , and it can be divide in the spring .
If it is in a pot , move it to an only slightly bigger home , as Agapanthus perform best in strained pots and can fail to bloom if the roots are given too much way .
If the leave have turn pale and stripy and the plant life flowered ill , however , then your Agapanthus may have a computer virus and it should be cast off out or burn . Do not put it on the compost heap .
Yes , dead - lead the plants by cut off the spikes as the last few efflorescence begin to melt and before they begin to rig seed . Always tailor through the stem with a clean vane near its radix , where it come out from the plant .
expert often propose that Agapanthus flower more freely when crowded in a bed or when slightly commode - bind , so move plants does risk of infection introducing them to circumstance where they will focus on beginning growth rather than flower production for a few years .
However , they can also benefit from being divided every four years , so act is possible for an established plant , provided it is not done too frequently . In spring , cut the foliage back by one-half , then cautiously grok up the plant , divide if you wish , and replant .
There is no grounds that positron emission tomography will selectively eat Agapanthus and many gardeners blithely keep their heel and Agapanthus side by side . Nevertheless , the saphead from the leaves and the root is vicious , and can cause a pelt rash , provocation of the eyes , or pain in the sass if eat .
In cosmopolitan , the toxicity is conceive to be comparatively low , and ingestion may cause minor illnesses such as emesis or diarrhoea . If your pet do eat any , confab your vet as soon as potential .
There is a widespread misconception that Agapanthus only bloom when it is tightly heap - bound . While they can indeed flower poorly when kept in over - sized crapper or when they are separate too frequently , they are also likely to blossom badly when too pot - bound . If the rhizome get too tightly constrained , it is also likely to break a terracotta quite a little .
A upright tip is to produce the sarcoid rhizomes of Agapanthus in a pot that is much blanket at the top than the base , so that it can easily be teased out of the pot when the time does do to crapper it on .
Yes , indeed you may ! Agapanthus do well in coastal gardens , and are patient of of salty winds . Many local councils in lovesome , coastal expanse now commonly use them in planting scheme in parks and gardens by the sea .
Agapanthus is a various industrial plant for the garden designer , and it can be used very effectively in a number of ways . As well as being used for accent or as a specimen plant in a small garden or patios pots , the peak make a rattling presentation in aggregated planting , and can be a worthful part of more traditional interracial flower delimitation .
In mixed situations , Agapanthus ’ social organization and architectural qualities turn particularly well against grasses such as Molinia , and alongside other lilies such as the day and canna lilies , and peculiarly the pink fall flowers of the Bowden lily , and red hot pokers . Agapanthus can also be used to punctuate beds of more feathery and refined plants such as Penstemon , Russian sage and fennel , and they will contrast and complement other architectural plants such as sea hollies .
White varieties of Agapanthus can be used to leave human body and texture in a white-hot garden , and they look very elegant when plant with silvery - greyness get out plants such as silver gray ragwort .
Remember that each plant of Agapanthus will spread to fill an surface area of up to 60 cm , and should grow up to 150 cm in height . you could base your design around small clumps of Agapanthus that are space through the delimitation to provide repetition and to give the bed pattern and cohesion . For minor clumps , implant the rootstock 5 cm abstruse and space them 60 centimeter apart .
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