Mine do flower, but I bring the 2 pots indoors in winter, keep them in dim light for a month, then water & fertilize them and put them in a south window. Right now lots of new strappy leaves but no flower stalks yet. I was told they like to be crowded, so I haven't transplanted them to larger pots. They bloom sometime in June,usually.

Carol

Bill,

I've had no luck leaving them in the ground over winter... if they do survive they don't flower. However, they perform beautifully if you pot them and then place them in a cold, dark place for the winter and bring them back out in March/April. Here is a thread from last year that may be of interest to you.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/neweng/msg0311234020664.html

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb / agapanthus

Bill, I totally forgot that I had asked about Agapanthus timing! Hey --don't throw them out. Just repot them more crowded together. They thrive & bloom when they have little room.

Carol

I know I could pot them, but there just isn't any more room for potted plants, even dormant ones. And I don't have the energy to cart any more plants in and out every season. I have the brugmansia, bougainvillea, gingers, banana, Meyer lemon, calliandra, plumbago, orchids and cacti. I wanted these agapanthus because they were soooooooooooooooo advertised as hardy in zone 6!!! But the nurseries (yes plural!!!) all failed to mention that they might grow here but probably never flower. Anyway, thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. They will now become compost!

If there is a pla nt swap near you that you'll attend, maybe you can take them with the explanation of their need for potting to bloom. I'll bet you'd get some takers.

Bill,
It sounds as though youÂre anxious to free up the garden space for something else but I wonder if you would be interested in further experimenting with this plant. After re-potting into a bigger pot one of my Agapanthus last spring I have noted zero plant growth and a massive amount of root growth. I wonder if you potted up a small pot of your Agapanthus restricting its root growth and then plant the pot in the garden.
This winter I kept my pots in a cool dark spot and brought them out to a cold frame in the middle of March. I am hoping the key is combination of root containment and added day light hours. I do know of a friend who is very successful at over wintering with abundant bloom in a unheated greenhouse.

Katy,

I have heard that before about Agapanthus liking to be pot bound. It may work, and I may try it. But it may also mean more work than I am willing to do...more pots to schlepp in and out every year and finding room indoors.....we'll see! LOL!
But really the whole point of buying them was to have a nice clump that would bloom in the ground with routine care, like most other perennials. And in warmer climates they are planted right in the ground and are very common, and they bloom profusely. I can't understand why they won't bloom here the same way. Anyway........I may give them a pardon from the death sentence. Depends on my mood the day I work in that bed! LOL!

Bill,
My thought was that you leave the potted up Agapanthus in the ground over the winter and continue to kick some leaves or put a garbage can on top of it.

Katy that might be an option. When I get to that area I'll give it a go. But they are definitely on probation! LOL!
Thanks.

Bill, I'm in a warmer climate than you, (Mississippi Gulf Coast) but here's my two cents. In my pre-Katrina house, mine bloomed effortlessly. They were the dark blue variety, and so beautiful and no maintenance. Several of my neighbors threatened to steal them - they were the envy of the neighborhood.

In my post Katrina house that we built almost three years ago, I told the homebuilder's landscaper how much I loved agapanthus. He planted loads of them - to my disappointment they were white, which don't seem to bloom as generously as the blue. I was so disappointed that I almost pulled them up last year. I'm so glad I didn't, because they are beginning to bud, big time. So, maybe the third year is the charm?

I have heard how they like to be crowded, and have thought about adding some new ones to my bed, but I'll see how this year goes before I do.

Good luck with yours!

Wodka,

Mine are blue, but they've been in the ground for several years now, at least 6 or 7. They are about 8-10 inches tall now (Leaves only - no buds) and fewer than they were all the previous years because I didn't cover them this year (because I gave up on them). Still about half of them came back. We'll see what happens.

Where on the Gulf Coast are you? My partner is from Gulfport (Picayune originally) and we were there in March. First time since Katrina. Waveland is virtually gone! What a shame. We saw so many slabs and stairs to nothing even along Hwy. 90. But, the Island View casino was good to us the on the last night because we both won! LOL!

Bill, I don't cover mine except with whatever mulch I have in the beds. I hate the way they look in the winter!

We are in Pass Christian. We were in Long Beach, 7th house from the beach, and lost it all, as did our neighbors, most of whom have since moved out of state. My husband's work is still here, so we couldn't move out of town, but did move inland and built on high elevation. I pray that we are out of harm's way for future storms. Hopefully, we will never see another Katrina in our lifetime.

Waveland did suffer. Pre-Katrina, my neighbors and I would go to Bay St. Louis/Waveland and shop and celebrate our birthdays and special occasions. Such a friendly, quaint area. Long Beach is also slow to recover. This oil spill isn't going to help things. The poor fishermen and seafood companies who make their living from the Gulf. Hopefully, that "box" that is covering the leak will help the situation.

On a much lighter note, congrats on your casino winnings! And again, good luck with your agapanthus - I wish I had the blue. I just planted some blue plumbago and love the color it adds to the landscape.

Wodka,

They are borderline hardy here. So I wouldn't mind covering with a few leaves and a bucket or something. That's not much work. But if they never bloom, what's the point? They have always grown beautiful, lush green foliage........for years. But no flowers. And when I bought them they were mature plants with buds (read that as "expensive"!) and had some flowers that first year. Well let's see what happens......

Glad your new home is in a safer location!

Bill, one last note before I get kicked out for being in the wrong "zone" here. You probably already know this, but I've read where if you fertilize your agapanthus every week during the summer with a high-phosphorous fertilizer, that will help produce more flowers for the next blooming season.

I know what you mean about the expense of buying "mature plants." In our new landscape we planted a live oak tree. We paid several hundred more dollars for a more mature one, so we would hopefully see it grow in our remaining lifetime - ha! When I mentioned to the landscaper I had read to be concerned about the tree's roots tearing up sidewalks and all, he smartly replied "I don't think y'all will have that problem!"

Live oaks are magnificent trees! But he's right. I think any broken sidewalks will be your great-great-great grandchildren's problem! And even then, it's well worth letting the tree have the sidewalk and crossing the street if you have to!

I'm in Maryland and both my Agapanthus plants flowered beautifully. I thought I killed them the first year, but two years later, they leafed out nicely and bloomed for the first time. The blooms were spectacular, but I was surprised I hadn't killed them as they are borderline plants in zone 7 and I've never bothered to dig them up and overwinter them indoors.

Chase,
Perhaps the variety you have is borderline zone 7, but the ones I have are zone 6 and they have survived and actually flourished and grew lush foliage for many years with only a few leaves over them. They just never bloomed. I have them in a pot now where they are still growing well. This winter I'll put the pot indoors or in the garage and see what happens.

I've never grown agapanthus, but happen to have JUST finished the chapter on them in Eck and Winterrowd's "Our Life in Gardens" (FABULOUS book -- every real gardener should read it) and among other things, they say:

"From time to time, northern gardeners hear rumors of "hardy" agapanthus, special strains that might survive the winter, even in Zone 5, "with protection." The famous Headbourne hybrids,... are frequently mentioned.... The Headbourne hybrids have achieved notoriety not for their considerable beauty, but because they are said to be the hardiest agapanthus of all. Hardiness is never a matter of mere winter lows, however, but is always something like a complex tossed salad. So it may happen -- in a most privileged courtyard garden in Washington or even New York City, with perfect winter drainage, some evergreen boughs placed over the crowns in December, a good covering of snow, and perhaps an exposed basement wall that leaks heat and is just opposite the furnace -- it MAY happen that some selection might live to see the spring and flower in summer. But we remain skeptical. And so, to consummate an affair with agapanthus, you must resort to shoving and hauling, smashing [referring to earlier references to the roots and how you might actually have to smash the pot to get the plant out] and splintering, to a cold bedroom of nasty, yellowing foliage, always anticipating the pure bliss that will come. Not so different, after all, from any other love affair."

(So reads the whole book -- if your library has it, it is WELL worth a read of the whole chapter on agapanthus care ... then keep reading, the whole book is about love, of plants, pets and people. A wonderful book to curl up with!)

Well, you've certainly sold me on the book. Now if I could just find the time to read it. While I gave up years ago trying to grow agapanthus directly in the garden, here is this year's result of overwintering them in a pot... well worth the trouble!

Here's a bit more from the book (hope I'm not violating copyright here!!):

"Agapanthus are clump-forming plants that grow from thick daylily-like rhizomes... beneath is a mass of thick, spaghetti-like roots that will cling tenaciously to the porous sides of clay pots, making a plant that needs repotting almost impossible to turn out neatly. Further, agapanthus bloom best when slightly potbound. But if a specimen becomes too potbound, it will not bloom, either, and that is a sign that it must be divided an repotted. We used to think there was no other way to do this than to smash the clay pot. Now we know that if the plant is allowed to dry out thoroughly, usually it will slip out easily...."

There's more about care -- hope this is helpful to someone!

And yes, the book is truly great!

Ctlady,

Thanks for the info. Contrary to what the book says though (see my original post) they thrived and grew like crazy. Lush, healthy foliage every year for several years. No winter damage and fairly early to emerge every spring. They just never bloomed. They are now in a pot, and still thriving. But this year they will come inside, either in the garage or basement. Next year I may get some blooms!