AGAPANTHUS

All Agapanthus originate from the Cape of God Hope, South Africa, the first reaching Europe via Dutch settlers in 1652 and reaching the UK in 1687.  They have now spread to many parts of the world.  Apart from their beautiful flowers and architectural foliage for landscape and garden use, they have various herbal properties and on Madeira they are planted to stop erosion.  In Australia some outback farms plant a hedge of Agapanthus to keep out snakes.  They are not usually troubled by slugs, snails, rabbits or deer’s.

Agapanthus belong now to the family Agapanthaceae, the name comes from the Greek agape which means love and anthos which means flower, hence the name ‘flower of love’.  They are also commonly known as African Lily or Lily of the Nile.

The Botanical Nomenclature is still a little confusing, I rather prefer the views of F.M. Leighton in her monograph (1965).  This work refers to ten species and ten sub-species, some are evergreen and some are deciduous.  They all have fleshy roots which are produced from a rhizome not a bulb.  The leaves vary in shape and colour from rich green to grey green, several white/yellow variegated forms are now readily available.

Flower colour varies too, from dark violet blue to pure white and all the shades in between.  The race is now on to produce the first true pink agapanthus. Enigma and Silver Baby are the first two bi-coloured flowers.

Agapanthus need a well drained soil/compost.  For container growing use a mixture of a third top soil, one third compost and one third either grit sand or perlite.  We find feeding with a high potash feed (tomato food)  once in March, May July, August and September  and in June with a general fertilizer (this ensures that plants receive all the trace elements which a high potash feed may otherwise make unavailable).

Over the past ten years the green leaf varieties have proven hardy in the Yorkshire winters.  We do however recommend that container grown plants are moved into a cold glasshouse or frame or next to a house wall out of the wind in winter. Deciduous plants can have their leaves removed just above ground level in late November and mulched with a 6 cm layer of chipped bark.  Evergreen varieties can be mounded  round with chipped bark, leaving most of the green leaves on.  These will yellow and dry with the wind and frost but will re-grow happily in the spring.  Old dead leaves can be removed in March.  All Variegated Agapanthus and young plants need winter protection, a cold glasshouse or frame is sufficient.  Do not give Agapanthus heat in the winter as this could cause them to flower very poorly or not at all.

Agapanthus do not suffer from any major pests or diseases, occasional mealy bug can be a problem, a systemic insecticide normally is a quick cure for these.

Agapanthus like a sunny position, partial shade a few hours a day as no detrimental affect, soil ph does not affect them.  The larger, taller flowers tend to do better in windy situations, since they naturally grow on the cliff tops.

The best way to propagate Agapanthus is by division, by this process you are guaranteed to get a plant which grows exactly like the parent, this can often be a slow job, hence some varieties seem to be expensive.  All the plants we sell are vegetatively propagated from known mother plants or Micro propagated..

We are presently applying for a Northern National Collection, since we have over 400 varieties.

Seed germinates readily provided it is fresh.  All Agapanthus grown from seed will differ from the parent plant and should not be sold as a named cultivars.

If anyone reading this as any further questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.