Agapanthus africanus

About this cultivar:

Agapanthus africanus is, most likely, the magnificent Agapanthus with big scrappy leaves you see growing in London and Paris. Usually in courtyard gardens and big pots outside buildings. Yes, it is evergreen - but not if it dies! It is not fully hardy! Cities, and buildings, provide enough heat fort to survive the winter. (Also, if you let any plant get bigger it tends to get a bit hardier!) So, we offer it for sale here if you want to take a chance. But we don't grow it much, if at all in our garden - too cold!

• Position: Full sun, partial shade (better in full sun)
• Soil: Almost any soil 
• Flowers: July, August, September
  
• Other features: Bees, Butterflies, and Bugs
• Hardiness: H3 - Hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1°C)
• Habit: Clump forming
• Foliage: Evergreen
• Height: 75 to 120 cm  (2.5 - 4 ft)
• Spread: 45 to 75 cm  (1.5 - 2.5 ft)
• Time to full growth: 2 to 5 years
• Plant type: Herbaceous Perennial
• Colour: Blue, purple, pink, green
• Goes well with: Achillea, Coreopsis, Crocosmia, Hemerocallis,, Kniphofia,and Stipa tenuissima. We like to experiment with blue-on-blue (Eryngium and Agapanthus!) or blue on white (White Hydrangea and Agapanthus).

About this genus:

Agapanthus (lily-of-the-nile) is a South-African perennial genus that is known for being a fantastic summer-flowering, butterfly-attracting perennial - our second best selling plant is Agapanthus! At Ballyrobert we've trialed many cultivars to find what we think are the best performers out there.

Agapanthus forms clumps with strap-like leaves which in the summer produce stems ending with with large circular arrangements of trumpet-like flowers. The clump-size, stem-length, flower colour and foliage can vary depending on the cultivar. Flower colours can vary from light to dark purple, light to dark blue, grey to white, and even bicolour. The foliage can range from evergreen to semi-evergreen to deciduous.

Agapanthus tend to prefer full-sun but will also grow in part shade. They tend to be quite drought tolerant. Some Agapanthus are supposed to be tender. We don't sell those ones here! All the cultivars we sell have been tested in our own garden over a number of years. We've found them to be tough, fully hardy, low maintenance plants perfect for a wide range of gardens. Unsurprising since they are native to South Africa - a place of wildly varying habits.

Agapanthus combine well with other sun-lovers and/or lily-type plants. You can try: Achillea, Coreopsis, Crocosmia, Hemerocallis, Kniphofia, and Stipa tenuissima. We like to experiment with blue-on-blue (Eryngium and Agapanthus!) or blue on white (White Hydrangea and Agapanthus)