Agapanthus Plants Gardening Tips In Home Garden
Agapanthus also known as African Lily. Some Find aggies daggy and kids love knocing their heads off, but these hardy perennials on a splendid display.
Agapanthus is the flower of summer and its tall-stemmed blue or white heads grace gardens across Australia. A perennial from South Africa, it's a survivor, from its thick, fleshy roots to its luxuriant. strappy green leaves.
In a time of climate change when bushfires are a real threat in many areas, these plants are a top choice to grow as fire retardants. Although they will burn, they can help slow a fire's progress and recover quickly after a blaze.
To use them as a firebreak, plant them thickly without organic mulch. Use them as a border to mown grass or mass plant under deciduous trees. The thick roots also bind soil and help to reduce erosion on an embankment. The flowers attract birds and are long-lasting. They can be picked to use in a vase indoors.
That's the long list of pluses for agapanthus. They also have a sinister side. In recent years these seemingly harmless plants have become invasive in bushland and coastal zones. In many areas, including the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria and parts of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, agapanthus is listed as an environmental weed.
To keep agapanthus in check, deadhead them as soon as flowering is over and select sterile forms for new plantings (see recommendations below).
Best Tips To Palnting agapanthus at Home Garden
With its year-round narrow green leaves, agapanthus is ideal as a unifying element to tie garden areas together visually or for a low-care planting. They lend themselves to mass planting as a border or edging to around lm high. Who hasn't seen a row of agapanthus along a driveway, edging a garden fence or planted beside a pool fence and not admired them?
As they put on their best floral show in summer, they are a smart, low-care choice around outdoor entertaining areas such as patios and swimming pools.
Small-growing varieties make a fine contrast to formal clipped hedges. Use a row of dwarf white or blue agapanthus in front of stepped hedges of gardenia, murraya or lilly pilly for a designer look. 'Snow Storm' and 'Snowball' are two low-growing white varieties that look good planted in this way. Another dwarf form is 'Peter Pan', with light-blue flowers and growing to just 70cm high.
For a differently coloured agapanthus, look for 'Roseus', which has pink flowers. 'Queen Mum', a newish release, has bicolour flowers in blue and white.
Many newer varieties are sterile, which means they don't produce fertile seed. One sterile form is also one of the most handsome of all blue agapanthus. 'Black Pantha' has stems of very dark-blue flowers. Other sterile forms include 'Guilfoyle' (deep midnight blue), 'Perpetual Peace' (pale blue and long flowering) and 'Pallidus' (pale blue).
Evergreen agapanthus are the most commonly grown garden plants but, in areas with very cold frosty winters, grow herbaceous agapanthus. These plants die down over winter to avoid the cold but reshoot in spring. Alternatively, in cold areas, grow evergreen agapanthus in pots to overwinter in a sheltered spot, glasshouse or conservatory.
"As well as avoiding very cold frosty conditions, give agapanthus lots of sun and extra water when it's really hot and dry and they will bloom abundantly"
Gradening Tips To Grow Agapanthus Organically
As well as avoiding very cold frosty conditions, give agapanthus lots of sun and extra water when it's really hot and dry and they will bloom abundantly. Those that fail to flower are usually growing in too much shade. While they grow with little care, agapanthus respond well to an application of fertiliser or composted manure in spring.
Despite loving sun exposure, agapanthus foliage is susceptible to heat damage in extreme summer temperatures, especially where heatwaves push temperatures over 45°C. They are more likely to be burnt when the plants are already drought-stressed or if they are growing in a hot spot such as against a metal fence or wall, or beside a hot path or driveway where reflective heat is a problem.
Although their leaves can be damaged in high temperatures, agapanthus recover and send out new growth when conditions improve. Cut back clumps completely or remove damaged leaves to improve the appearance of a heat-affected clumps after the heat wave has passed.
To grow more plants to use in other parts of the garden or to give to someone who is just starting a garden, lift and divide existing clumps in spring or autumn. If an established clump is difficult to dig up, simply slice off part of the clump using a sharp spade. Make sure each section has leaves, rhizome and roots.
Avoiding Weediness Of Agapanthus
As mentioned,
- Agapanthus plants can become weedy as they grow readily from seed or by division of the clump.
- Where weeds have spread, it is usually due initially to the dumping of unwanted plants into bushland areas.
- Once established, agapanthus spreads slowly and relentlessly by seed.
- Seeds are not spread by birds but fall around the clump and may drift downhill or be carried by water.
- To restrict the spread of these plants from gardens, remove the flower stalks as the blooms finish and well before the seeds mature.
- Don't dump unwanted plants where they can spread.
Cut at the base of the stem to remove the stalk low down in the clump. As well as removing the spent heads to stop weediness, removing spent flower stalks also tidies the clump, returning agapanthus to its neat and orderly appearance.
If more plants are desired around the existing clump and weediness is not a problem, leave some of the seeds to mature. If you don't want to throw away the culled stems, they can be chopped up and added to the compost or even used as mulch. The spent stalks are also used in flower arrangements.
Pest Problems In Agapanthus Gardening
Clumps of agapanthus may harbour snails or slugs. Occasionally, the foliage is attacked in summer or autumn by lily caterpillars (which also attack clivias and crinum lilies). Squash caterpillars or apply an organic insecticide such as Dipel or pyrethrum.
Plants that are stressed - for example, where they are growing in too much shade or in conditions that are too dry - may be attacked by mealy bugs. These sap-sucking insects form sticky white colonies in the base of the clump and on the backs of leaves. They cause the leaves to turn light green or yellow and become twisted or deformed. The clump may die back.
Mealy bugs are hard to control as they colonise the roots as well as the foliage. Apply a registered organic pesticide such as soap or horticultural oil sprays and improve growing conditions. Where infestations are severe or persist, remove the plants.
Agapanthus are widely available and can be sourced from existing clumps, from fetes and plant stalls or from garden centres. Look for one of the more interesting named varieties during summer at your local garden centre.
Mysterious Behaviour Of Agapanthus
One of the questions most frequently asked about agapanthus is how does a row of blue-flowering plants turn white. The usual reason is that a white variety has invaded the all-blue planting and then multiplied over time by seed.
The blue plants haven't actually changed colour but new white plants have grown and the colour ratio has changed. Occasionally, flowers change colour through exposure to chemicals such as herbicides or to changes in temperature.
A Naturally occurring chemical called anthocyanin, a pigment found in the tissue of leaves, stems, flowers and fruits, causes purple, red or blue colouration. If the pigment responsible for blue colouring is suppressed, then the flower will be white. This could be another reason that blue agapanthus turn white.
Scientific Details Of Agapanthus
- Common name: Agapanthus, lily of the Nile, African lily
- Botanical name: Agapanthus praecox subsp. orientalis
- Family: Alliaceae (onion family)
- Aspect & soil: Full sun; well-drained soil
- Best climate: Subtropics, temperate, Mediterranean, cool
- Habit: Perennial
- Propagation: Seed, division
- Difficulty: Easy (can become weedy)