Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008

Agapanthus are easy to grow, do best in containers

Summer-blooming agapanthus, also called lily of the Nile, satisfies gardeners' yearning for blue flowers. Requiring full sun, they are often used in warmer climates planted en masse around swimming pools. Their spectacular blue flowers, ranging from cerulean to azure to almost purple, depending on the cultivar, are large umbels composed of many tiny florets.

The South African natives are perennial in warmer areas like the Central Valley.

A few white hybrids can be found, but most people grow the beautiful blues. Some cultivars are deciduous, some are evergreen.

There are dwarf forms, but the most commonly available are Headbourne hybrids, whose flower stalks can reach 6 feet.

I just learned something new about agapanthus. They are better garden performers if they are planted in a container where their roots are restricted; they produce more flowers in cramped conditions.

Only this week, I was eyeing a whiskey-barrel planter spilling over with yellow and chartreuse foliage plants. The dwarf butterfly bush was blooming according to plan, but its small tufts of flowers were overpowered by the more vigorous chromium-yellow foliage of its companions.

A couple of sturdy agapanthus would look swell against the gold, I thought to myself, more closely realizing my intent when I planted the burly container in late spring.

Agapanthus requires excellent drainage, another reason to plant them in containers. They like a lot of water in high summer and almost none in winter. Feed them fortnightly during the growing season with a high-potash fertilizer, such as one specifically for tomatoes.

They are sold in one-gallon pots, but you can buy the fleshy rhizomes from mail-order sources. A few minutes of online dawdling turned up Broadleigh Gardens in Somerset, England, (www.broadleighbulbs.co.uk), which shows 39 named agapanthus cultivars for sale. We gardeners in the United States cannot buy anything but seeds from abroad, but I was struck by the variety available. Most local retailers will be selling what's left of their 2008 order.