On a related subject, I'd rather like to know how people have found the Black Panther (is that the name?) agapanthus. They wanted twenty bucks a pop for them around here last year (or was it the year before? time goes so quickly). Are they any good? The concept sounds nice.

re Black Panther agapanthus.......... mine died...probably the only agapanthus I have ever lost and I paid $20.....
BUT today at Tahmoor nursery I paid $5 for clump in pot of Purple Cloud, equally dark purple, I had it in a past house so that was a good buy....and they have more
Robyn

Hi Kayle,
yes there are many different names for similar plants out there, seems you just make up a name and market your product and see what happens. Buyer beware ? All is not what it seems, if you have been duped, ask for a refund or take it to Unfair Trading and they can look into it for you. REMEMBER "There are more Sharks out of the water,than there are in the water" so choose carefully. "Plants die all the time, just buy a new one." is the cry from the plant shop. Finding the right form of plant is part of the fun of collecting plants. Good luck. Peter r

Here is a link to a supplier who sells a number of different varieties.
Like all plants, there are plant hybridists and growers, and companies wo are just "brokers".
Hybridists spend considerable time growing plants from seeds and selecting new varieties. The best varieties are registered and given a name. New varieties become available all the time, and may be the same colour and form as older ones but with better health, or they may be new colours, or mini forms. The more people demand new varieties, the more hybridists work to provide them. Some plants may look almost exactly like others, but they are not genetically the same plant.
Collectors who grow plants on for sale (Lambley Nursery, East Coast perennials, and the like), are usually fairly fussy about getting the names correct. They are also usually reasonably priced.
Brokers buy excess bulbs from growers, and sell them, usually by mail order, or to large stores like K-mart, packaged with photos. In my experience, the photo is not often representative of what the package contains, and the names are sometimes made up. Or maybe the name given, is not what the package contains. In some cases the plants they sell are simply the waste from someones hybridising program, sold off cheaply by the breeder.

Here is a link that might be useful: Agapanthus direct

Are you able to buy plants from New Zealand?

Cathy

Probably not, but there is someone who regularly advertises agapanthus in Gardening Australia - check them out. Also places like Norgates and Lambley Nursery sell a few different Aggies.

I bought several Black Panthers over two years ago, they cost an arm and a leg, they have been extremy slow to grow still small plants, a couple died and seem nowhere near flowering. Not like the $1 run of the mill plants I bought off a truck at the side of the road and many of the white ones flowered first year. My pink agapanthus also seem terribly delicate.

Shelley

I have tried 6 black panther agapanthus and have lost the lot ,I think it is a very poor hybrid, Wavy Navy is a better proposition.
There was a red agapanthus which sold on ebay last night only problem it was a nerine or lycoris that bidders paid for .

Isn't that awful about the red agapanthus. My pink ones are called "Pink panther" one looks very sick and the other is very small. I did get a flower last year but it was a little tiny one. I have a border of miniture blue aggies I bought them from our local agapanthus man for a couple of dollars each. The could be baby blue but not sure. Also my white "snowball" have done really well. Not as happy with the variagated one is it "Tom Thumb" that seems quite delicate and didnt like me dividing it. So my miniture blues and whites have done wonderfully as have the $1 white and blue standard ones I bought.

Black Panthers are sterile so perhaps that is why they do so poorley. I looked at mine yesterday and their growth is woeful! And they cost more than 40 times more than the $1 ones.

Shelley

Hi snodge and others
I paid $9.95 plus postage for my black panther about a year ago but it is still only small. (Think it was Tesslaars). I have it in a pot in a covered position indirect sun). I have kept it in pot for fear of losing it as I find some of my things have too hard a time in the garden. I am hoping it will grow up soon. It looks healthy but it is only about 8 inches tall.
Jan

Hi all
re message on Tuesday about black panther agapanthus. I must have bought this from Garden express not Tesslaar as I have just received new catalogue from GE and they are still $9.95.

Hi Jan,

I paid about $40 each for mine a few years ago and they are still small and have never flowered. I bought them when they were first released. I bought six which was a very foolish extravagance and I have 4 left I think. I have moved them around the garden thinking at first their failure to grow was because of where I had planted them. But they have been in the same place a couple of years now and have grown very little. My pink panther did get one flower last year I have two plants. One is small but looks healthy the other is down to just two short leaves and doesn't look like it will survive. I said previously I had some variegated ones called Peter Pan I was wrong they are Tinkerbell! LOL Well same movie! LOL They are hanging on at the moment but dont seem as hardy as the standard white and blue or miniature white or blue.
Shelley

Hi Shelley. I have since planted mine out so here's hoping they increase
Jan

wow.. after reading this i am reluctant to get Black Panther agapanthus myself but I've always been tempted by the advertising because of the rare deep colour it exhibits.
Ok is there anyone who has luck growing them to flower at all if not then i think theres some major manufacturing fault in such a plant.

Re the Black Agapanthus, I also bought 4 from Garden Express and they seemed not to be doing well at all, I moved them to another spot (quite a dry one) and now in their second year they are flowering quite well.

Lambley have a sale every year and I think that they may have agapanthus. Last year I bought quite a few named varieties and the MiL planted them all in a big tub and threw away the labels. The Lambley stock, I believe, are non-seed producing forms which is very responsible as this plant can be an environmental weed under some circumstances.

Hi all, I own a retail nursery and at this time of year the aggies are a big seller. Most of the named varieties are different in some way as far as I know - not the same one with different names. I have 7 varieties in our nursery trial garden - Black panther is doing ok, but nowhere near as vigorous as any of the other larger varieties, including the pale pink. Baby blue is the most vigorous of the dwarf blues, however I prefer a slightly taller one with thicker leaves called 'streamline'. My absolute favorite of the dwarfs is 'silver song' with very broad short leaves and white flowers striped lengthways with blue. Hope Ive been of some help.

Hi Kayle,
I have minature agapanthas as a border but, as they were given to me, I don't know the name of them. They are blue. The leaves are thin and look nice but when they flower, the flowers and leaves seem to flop, which is disappointing. Soon afterwards the leaves retain their upright habit. I think the broad leaf variety mentioned above might be better. They do spread into the garden bed and can be quite vigorous. I decided to put English box elsewhere as I was a bit disappointed when the flowers flopped.
Halina

Well it seems i Joined the ship and bought myself a Black Pantha Agapanthus for $20 there were bigger ones for $40 so yes these are expensive hopefully mine can grow successfully...should i burture it in a pot?

Thanks for all your answers. Lillypilly - the "silver song" sounds beautiful. Is it available commercially - say by mail order? And are the pink agies the large ones?

Sorry for the delay, computer problems! Silver song agapanthus is grown and promoted by Plant Growers Australia (PGA) in Melbourne. Most nurseries stock at least some of PGAs range as it is mass promoted in magazines etc. Ask at your nursery they should be able to help. The pink aggie is a large variety and is very pale, you really dont notice it is pink at all until the flowers are old and fading. Not extremely exciting but definitely different.