dilemma: what to plant with agapanthus in hot spot?

14 years ago

I have a row of blue agapanthus in a community garden in full, roasting hot sun.

I need some perennial flowers to plant with them that will look good with no irrigation (watering the first year to get going)

I have tried corn marigolds and california poppies, which look stunning but give up the ghost and start looking very ratty in summer, then need to be pulled out to start over.

Gazanias?

Arctotis?

Achillea?

Any other suggestions for hard-core drought and hot sun tolerant plants that look good with the agapanthus?

Thanks :)

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Comments (6)

gardenguru1950
14 years ago
"Hot" is relative. Where do you live?

Joe
xanthoria
Original Author
14 years ago
The garden is in Potrero Hill (San Francisco) - the always hot and sunny part. Not the foggy part. It's at least 80 degrees right now, I think.
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gardenguru1950
14 years ago
To me, 100 to 120 degress -- as in our interior valleys an desert -- is "roasting hot sun".

The reason that your corn marigolds and poppies started looking ratty come summer is that they are cool season annuals (the poppies are almost perennial when they get summer water).

Here's quite a few plants that are drought-tolerant and will take the roasting heat of Potrero Hill:

Aeonium AEONIUM
Agave parryi, A. shawii SMALL AGAVES
Aloe saponaria SOAP ALOE
Aloe striata CORAL ALOE
Anigozanthos flavidus YELLOW KANGAROO PAW
Beschorneria yuccoides AMOLE
Calandrinia grandiflora ROCK PURSLANE
Carex buchananii CURLY TOP SEDGE
Carex testacea ORANGE SEDGE
Centaurea cineraria DUSTY MILLER
Centaurea gymnocarpa DUSTY MILLER
Chondropetalum elephantinum GIANT CAPE RUSH
Chondropetalum tectorum SMALL CAPE RUSH
Convolvulus sabatius GROUND MORNING GLORY
Cotyledon orbiculata PIGÂS-EARS
Dasylirion longissimum MEXICAN GRASS TREE
Dasylirion wheeleri DESERT SPOON
Doryanthes palmeri SPEAR LILY
Echeveria HENS-AND-CHICKS
Elegia equisetacea RESTIO
Eriogonum umbellatum SULPHUR FLOWER
Euphorbia myrsinites MYRTLE SPURGE
Furcraea FALSE AGAVE
Gazania hybrids GAZANIA
Helianthemum nummularium SUNROSE
Hemerocallis DAYLILIES
Hesperoyucca whipplei CHAPARRAL YUCCA
Kniphofia TORCH LILY, RED HOT POKER
Lomandra confertifolia SMALL MAT RUSH
Melica imperfecta COAST RANGE MELIC
Muhlenbergia pubescens SOFT BLUE MEXICAN MUHLY
Nolina parryi SPOON GRASS
Opuntia PRICKLY-PEAR, BEAVERTAIL, CHOLLA
Origanum ÂBetty RollinsÂ, ÂHopleyÂsÂ ORNAMENTAL OREGANO
Penstemon heterophyllus ÂMargarita BOPÂ SKY BLUE PENSTEMON
Penstemon centranthifolius SCARLET BUGLER
Penstemon spectabilis SHOWY PENSTEMON
Perityle incana GUADALUPE ISLAND ROCK DAISY
Phlomis JERUSALEM-SAGE
Puya alpestris PUYA
Puya berteroniana GIANT PUYA
Salvia chamaedryoides GERMANDER SAGE
Sedum dendroideum TREE SEDUM
Senecio cineraria DUSTY MILLER
Senecio mandraliscae KLEINIA
Senecio vira-vira DUSTY MILLER
Sisyrinchium californicum YELLOW-EYED GRASS
Stipa gigantea GIANT FEATHER GRASS
Trichostema lanatum WOOLY BLUE-CURLS
Yucca filamentosa ADAMÂS NEEDLE
Yucca rostrata SILVER YUCCA
Zauschneria californica CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA

And so many more.

Joe
deep___roots
14 years ago
Agapanthus with the blue flowers look good with nerium oleanders that have pink flowers. The oleanders flower up high and the underplanted agapanthus have the nice strappy green foliage with the blue flowering thingies that mix up with the pink.
As far as I know oleanders can take just about anything you throw at them. And water? bah! Heat, bah! They do need annual pruning. Might get too big for a community garden though...space is a consideration?
I like Arctotis in any case. They grow good for me.
I've also got low growing masses of geraniums with my agapanthus, but more in a shaded area. Also in another area, bergenia with the agapanthus, again with more shade than you have.
Maybe some of the larger leaved salvias would work for you.
xanthoria
Original Author
14 years ago
I think gazanias, Senecio cineraria and arctotis will the the thing. I rarely see arctotis for sale though, except occasionally seed.

I should have mentioned that height is an issue so oleanders won't work. Salvias will though - that's a good one.

thanks folks!
bahia
14 years ago
Arctotis cultivars in several different colors should be easily available at a SF nursery such as Flora Grubb in the Bayview District. At Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden in Capetown, they had Agapanthus combined with other bulbs such as Amaryllis belladonna and Watsonias. Tulbaghia violacea would also work. Succulents such as Bulbine frutescens or Senecio serpens or Cotyledon orbiculata would also work well.

dilemma: what to plant with agapanthus in hot spot?

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gardenguru1950

xanthoria
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dilemma: what to plant with agapanthus in hot spot?

Comments (6)

gardenguru1950

xanthoriaOriginal Author

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gardenguru1950

deep___roots

xanthoriaOriginal Author

bahia

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xanthoria
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