Agapanthus

How to choose an agapanthus

Height splits the range in two. The dwarfs, including Peter Pan, Baby Pete, Streamline and Baby Blue, hold their foliage at 30cm to 40cm with flowers to about 60cm, and they are the ones for border edges, pots and under windows. The full sized orientalis types, such as Orientalis Blue, Purple Cloud and Snowball, build clumps 60cm to 80cm across with flower stems at 1m to 1.2m, which is the scale you want along a driveway or a rural fence line.

Colour is the second call. Blues run from the pale Baby Periwinkle through mid blue Bingo Blue to the deep, near black heads of Black Magic and Black Pantha, which read as dramatic against light walls and grey foliage. Whites such as Snowball and River Garden White are the formal choice and lift shaded corners. Mass a single variety rather than mixing: twenty of one colour always beats a sampler.

Where agapanthus works in Australia

Agapanthus is close to the most forgiving flowering perennial in the country. It grows from subtropical Queensland through Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, shrugs off coastal salt and wind, and handles moderate frost, though a hard inland freeze can scorch the evergreen leaves before the clump reshoots in spring. The one honest caveat: older seeding forms have naturalised in parts of cooler, wetter Australia, so deadhead spent flower stems before seed drops, or choose low fertility modern selections such as Baby Pete. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering. Clumps in half shade grow well but bloom at half strength.

Planting and spacing

Space dwarfs 30cm to 40cm apart and full sized varieties 40cm to 60cm apart for a row that closes within two seasons. A 10m driveway edge takes about 20 dwarf plants or 15 of the larger types. Plant into any free draining soil with the crown at soil level, water in well, and mulch lightly, keeping mulch off the crown. Water twice a week for the first summer. After that, established clumps get by on rainfall in most of the country.

Care through the year

This is a plant for people who do not want a job. Feed once in early spring with a complete fertiliser, cut spent flower stems at the base in late summer, and pull off tired outer leaves as they yellow. Every four or five years, lift and divide crowded clumps in autumn or early spring: flowering drops when clumps get congested, and one plant becomes five for free. They also flower reliably for years in a 40cm or larger pot.

Common questions

When do agapanthus flower?

Late spring through summer, roughly November to February, peaking around Christmas across most of the country. Flowering starts a few weeks earlier in warm climates and later in cool southern gardens.

Will agapanthus become weedy in my garden?

Seeding types can self sow in cool, moist regions, which is why some councils ask gardeners to manage them. Removing spent heads before seed matures prevents it entirely, and dwarf selections like Baby Pete set little viable seed.

Why is my agapanthus not flowering?

Almost always too much shade, too much nitrogen or an overcrowded clump. Move it into six hours of sun, ease off the lawn fertiliser reaching the bed, or divide the clump, and flowering returns the following summer.

How do the plants arrive?

Delivered Australia wide from $29.95, with no minimum order and a 30 day healthy plant guarantee. If you are building out a full bed, the wider flowering plants range pairs well with a white or blue agapanthus edge.