agapanthus advice

Hi All.

I have never planted Agapanthus before, but have been wanting to plant them for a while now.

Would you be able to advise me on varieties that have a good height, say 90 cm and dark indigo to blue varieties?

I was looking at J parkers and they are offering bare rooted plants for 9.99 which seems reasonable. but will these flower the same season if i plant them in March? I am not sure when is the best time to plant these flowers.

I also saw some potted agapanthus for sale online...but i am not sure if they will be better than the rooted and they are 36 pounds for 5 potted plants

Much appreciated

 

Hi, unless J Parker have improved in recent years, I'd avoid their perennials. Are you planting in York, London or Stockholm? That will be a big factor in choosing between evergreen or deciduous varieties.
Can't honestly see why spring planting is recommended, as most perennials put out strong new roots in August and September and as long as you can keep them watered if necessary, they'd have time to get established before winter. I'll await answers from our more knowledgeable members like @NigelJ and @pete, though. Being southern hemisphere plants might be the reason.
Purple Cloud is a lovely variety and a mulch round the crown should give it sufficient winter protection, certainly in London.

 

I've had a couple of plants in the garden for years but they are not a tall variety.
It's not a plant I grow much as I've always found the flowering season a bit short with mine.
I'd have a look round garden centres, I saw a good selection of them locally.

 

I agree, pete, that bargains are to be found in late summer as garden centres sell off stock. You can also see what you're getting!
The traditional advice was that the plants need to be crowded before they flower well, so perhaps a group of three or five closely planted would speed up flowering.

 

I have moved mine over the years and do find they stop flowering for a couple of years or so, growing in pots is obviously different and they obviously become crowed much faster.

I didn't take a lot of notice of them at the garden centre as I was looking for something else, but they were mostly in flower now and ranged from fairly small ones to one which was pretty big, I'm guessing the big one was not hardy, it must have been 4ft tall with big flower heads.

I always like to see what I'm buying whenever possible.

 

Should add, I believe I'm right in saying that only the so called deciduous ones are hardy.

 

It's a bit of a dated myth about hardiness. I and my clients grew both kinds in Northants without any losses, and all the evergreen ones I grow here sailed through the bad winter of 2011 in open borders without protection. Until Shaneoak comes back and tells us whereabouts he's planning on planting them, though, it's hard to advise.

 

Hi thank you. I’m in York currently . What would you recommend? Ah ok I’ll give them a miss. Any recommendations? I’m on a budget though

 

Thanks. I’m on a budget and they’re 14 pounds a pot here . Bit steep for me & they look 35 cm max . I remember going to Dublin once and seeing some that were humongous- almost a meter and half !

 

Sunny York

 

Ah right...not quite such a doddle as London, but do-able I've had a look at online prices...they're crazy! The other option which would give you lots of plants is to grow from seed. Plantworld have a good selection including Headbourne Hybrids which are the hardiest. Needs patience, though!

 

If you wait a month they will have finished flowering at garden centres.
They will want to get rid of any they have left as nobody buys a pot for leaves.
Might be worth calling a few local places and asking what they have before going.

 

They can sulk for a year or two after planting, I split and moved a clump a couple of years ago and it has just flowered, although a friend I gave a chunk too got flowers the year after.

 

Good idea . Thankyou

 

Ha ha you’re not that much warmer are you?? But I do remember it being t shirt weather in October when I lived there and it being cold here already by late September ! I’ll try the seeds, perhaps.