Falling in love with agapanthus

I first encountered the delightful sky-blue blooms of agapanthus on a roundabout in Malaga many years ago and immediately fell for them despite their very unglamorous location, or perhaps because of it. They overcame its mundanity with grace and ease, shrugging it off and turning a busy road junction into a place of beauty and exoticism. It helped that they were growing alongside acanthus – another strikingly handsome plant – but even on their own they would have made a lasting impression.

With spherical heads of flowers sitting atop long, strong stems, agapanthus have a similar look to alliums, but flower later, with the bonus that their bright green strappy leaves maintain their lushness from spring until autumn. The trumpet-shaped flowers are usually blue, in shades from pale and icy through sapphire to deep rich cobalt, but there are white and lilac forms too. Offering nectar and pollen to bees and butterflies and flowering from mid to late summer depending on variety, they range in height from around 20cm to 1.5m, meaning they can be planted in the front, middle or back of beds and borders and work well in smaller spaces and balconies too.

Native to Southern Africa, they were brought to Europe in the 17th century by returning explorers. Many of these first specimens were tender, proudly grown in orangeries and conservatories as they were unable to withstand British winters.

Agapanthus can be evergreen or deciduous. The former tend not to be hardy, but the latter will survive winter outdoors here with a little coaxing. They’re said to be drought tolerant once established if grown in the ground, although it’s best not to let them dry out for long periods of time and they generally flower better when watered well during the growing season. Their drought tolerance may depend on their parentage. In their natural habitats, evergreen species grow in coastal areas with high winter rainfall and a drier growing season, whereas deciduous ones grow in rocky, mountainous regions with wet summers and dry winters.

Most of the cultivars sold in the UK also tolerate sea breezes and salty air so are a good fit for seaside as well as gravel gardens. In fact, they’re incredibly versatile in terms of design, looking stunning in groups in a large space but substantial and architectural enough for one to act as a statement plant. They’re particularly impressive in large terracotta pots, adding oodles of Mediterranean pzazz to patios. In cottage gardens mix them with phlox and dephiniums, or allow them to mingle with grasses and fiery heleniums in prairie plantings.

Care

Agapanthus prefer full sun. While they will put up with some shade, they’re less likely to flower well in this position. Like figs, they perform best when their roots are restricted so planting in pots that are just big enough fits the bill nicely. Although they produce more flowers when slightly crowded in this way, they will eventually just become overly congested and root-bound and blooming will be reduced or stop altogether. They’re also difficult to remove from pots at this stage – they cling to the sides and the plants, with their thick rhizomes, are heavy to lift. So rather than allowing them to reach this tipping point it’s best to repot every two to three years into a slightly larger container. Alternatively, they can be divided in spring if larger pots aren’t an option.

Agapanthus dislike being waterlogged so good drainage is important, particularly in winter. If you garden on heavy soil, it’s best, again, to grow them in pots, ideally in peat-free John Innes No. 3 with added grit.

Feed with tomato food or liquid seaweed every couple of weeks from spring until a couple of weeks after flowering. This is when they’re beginning to form the following year’s blooms and a continued input of nutrients and water should ensure a good display the following year.

Removing spent flower stems at the base will save plants from expending energy on seed formation. The seeds are rather delightful though, hanging like raindrops from each delicate stem on the rounded flowerheads, so you may want to leave some in place as autumn decoration.

Overwintering

As is so often the case with gardening, opinion as to how much protection deciduous agapanthus need from the cold differs. Some horticulturalists feel it’s not really necessary unless Arctic weather is forecast or they’re being grown in a very cold and exposed area of the country, as most are hardy to between -10 and -15 degrees C. I can attest that mine, grown in North London in a pot, were fine in a corner between the outhouse wall and the fence with no other protection over winter, although the foliage did become rather mushy. But if losing them to frost or freezing winds is a risk that you’re reluctant to take, growing in pots makes winter protection easier as they can be moved to a sheltered spot. In containers or in the ground, cover the crown with straw or horticultural fleece, or mulch around the base with bark chippings or compost.

Non-hardy evergreens are highly unlikely to survive over winter and should be moved to a conservatory or greenhouse. The name ‘agapanthus’ is taken from the Greek agape (meaning a higher form of love) and anthos (meaning flower). Introduce these gorgeous, versatile plants to your garden and prepare to be struck by Cupid’s arrow, as I was all those years ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p059sysv https://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/plants400/Profiles/ab/Agapanthus https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/agapanthus/borders https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/agapanthus/containers