I’m not quite done with my lily theme.  Enter Agapanthus…

Lily of the Nile, Agapanthus, is another wonderful summer plant. Many new cultivars are proving more and more hardy which is good for us who live in zone 7 on the edge of zone 8.   Nothing says summer quite like Agapanthus. Use with a mixture of blue and orange crocosmia, heads of blue waving in the breeze in combination with grasses, or tall heads standing proud against a background of shrubs, so many ways to use them in the garden.

One of my favorites is Agapanthus ‘Storm Cloud’.  Reliably hardy in my garden the dark blue flowers with dark stems produce every year without much effort. These are in morning sun with afternoon shade. The color stays consistent and blooms stay a little longer out of the hot afternoon sun.

Another good dark blue is the Agapanthus ‘Blue Leap’ which has lighter blue blooms with a color variation.  Full sun is where these hang out and even though they don’t get much water they make good clumps.

Xera Nursery in Oregon developed this cultivar.  The lighter blue is happy and fronts well with the tropical plants in good sun with afternoon sun and morning shade.

Right next to the Xera agapanthus is the new one with variegated foliage. The bloom is great too with light blue held high above the striped leaves.  Agapanthus Summer sky, (not to be confused with Agapanthus Summer skies) is a strong cultivar from Hines that is reliably hardy. The contrast of the leaves with the striped blue flowers is a combination that can’t be beat.

Blue is not the only color the ‘spider lily’ comes in (yes there are many common names for agapanthus).  The tall agapanthus arendsii ‘white form’ comes to me from Windcliff plants.  The lovely open form flower in the light breezy flower head is different that most of the blue forms.   More delicate with dark stems they seem to dance in the wind.  Great with a grass like Stipa Gigantea they mix well and add interest to the garden with alternate forms of flowers.

Not to left out the Agapanthus ‘Silver Baby’ is also white but this time small and sweet with a touch of blue at the back of the blossom.   I’m looking forward to seeing this one bulking up in the garden and creating a mass of low blooming white.

Saving the best for last I came across the amazing Agapanthus ‘Queen Mum’.   Unable to resist the siren call of clear white with a deep blue in the base of the flower it found its way to the back of the car.  It got to hang out at the front door with other special things until I finally planted it, no, not in the ground but in a pot.   Reading about it I came across an article by Dan Hinkley stating a problem with hardiness in our area.   A quick email confirmed that it would likely not be hardy at my place.  Such an impressive flower will deserve a place in my greenhouse this winter.   The size of the flower is the largest I’ve seen at almost 24 inches across.

Some Agapanthus is particular about their position in the garden, they like good summer water to bloom and sometime protection in the winter to keep the crowns from freezing.  Many times after a hard winter they are slow to recover.  The foliage will die back but push out again as late as may.  If the summer stays warm and wet they will be fabulously in bloom by end of July.    Agapanthus ‘Graskop’ and Agapanthus ‘two times blue’ are also in my garden with Gaskop having unusual pendulous deep blue flowers that hummingbirds love, and ‘Two times blue’ having bi-color flowers with an open head much like the white Agapanthus arendsii.   The buds on ‘Two Times Blue’ are like little rounded pouches before they open.

Let me know if you other gardeners out there are growing these and what your experience is with them.  I’m excited to keep growing new hardy cultivars.