There are two kinds of Agapanthus, evergreen leaved and deciduous. The varieties of agapanthus that lose their leaves and go dormant are completely winter hardy in the ground in zone 5. They need full sunshine, fertile well drained soil, and they like to be fertilized on a regular basis. Every once in a while the plants need to be dug up and divided because they tend to get "overgrown" and don't make flowers very well after 10 - 15 years of growing in the same spot. These are some of my agapanthus that have been growing in the ground outside in zone 5 for the last 40 years. They have been divided and replanted many times in that period. The temperature is 2 F outside today and the agapanthus are fine - they don't get mulched at all here but it wouldn't hurt them. It is a plant that is best put into the ground in the early part of the season so it has time to establish before the winter sets in. I wouldn't plant it out in the autumn. This agapanthus was grown from seeds someone gave me a million years ago - the picture is from last summer.

From much further south: on the nearby Agapanthus there are yellowing leaves and old flower stalks. Deep in the leaf clumps there are snail casts. However, there are no white deposits at all. We have had a couple of mild 1-2degree frosts and it's been hosing down for all of June. The plants in question are on a clay-loam that was pasture. They're competing with a variety of tree roots and are trapped by a fence. The clumps are very congested. They get half-day sun and flower reliably. They are the evergreen kind of Agapanthus, not deciduous. If you're in the NSW drought zone the plants may be feeling the pinch and have become host to something like mealy bugs. First shot at eradication - Lux flakes melted in water and poured on with a jug. Some cayenne pepper mixed in could be useful, too. If the edges of your clump are still healthy you might want to take some pieces and pot them up, as insurance. If you think they could be droughted and you're on water restriction, you could use the rinsing water from your washing machine to really soak the area. You should get about 60 litres from one wash load - enough to improve the water availability for the plants.

Carol, Since your front garden bed is in a somewhat straight row, you may find this technique to work for you as I have. I laid railroad ties In a straight line as a border at the back of my garden. I then laid a parallel line of railroad ties at the front edge of my garden. I then Stapled flexible netting available at your hardware store to the back ties, about 36 inches in width. To determine what length to cut each 3 foot strip of netting, I gently pulled it across that section of garden to the outer railroad tie and cut it there. You must allow enough room for it to gently sit over your plantings at their full growth height and a few more inches to overlap to place under the outer railroad tie. Do this along your stretch of garden. Each morning, you roll the netting back up to the tie in the back of the garden. In the evening you roll it over your plants and tuck under the outer railroad tie to secure it. Yes, you must repeat this each evening, but in my case, we had many deer who even came right up to our door. Yet for some reason, they would just put their nose up to the netting but never did anything else to try to get under it to the plants. I did this for many years in Kentucky with great success and did not have to replace the netting each year. I had tried everything from bone marrow to human hair cuttings to soap shavings to chemicals. The only thing that finally worked was the netting. Also good because water, air, and some sun can get through especially if you go away for the weekend. Good luck! I then stapled flexible netting found at a hardware store

I have some and they're awesome. Bought 3 pots about 4 years ago and last year i was able to split them into 9. Originally i had them planted in a spot that received sun from 12 to 6, which they didn't seem to like, but moved them to a morning to 1 pm spot and they are doing great. Bloom in May. The one below is a season after being split. They seem to take a while to recover before blooming at their full potential.