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Perennials & Annuals - Australia

Agapanthus

20 years ago

Hi. I recently purchased some agapanthus plants and have the following queries:-

* how do I care for them - do I have to fertilize - if so, how often and what with?

* where they like to grow

* how do I get them to flower brilliantly. The salesperson mentioned potash. Is this the best?

Any other advice would be appreciated. Many thanks.

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Comments (7)

User
20 years ago
Up here they grow like weeds, I never water or fertilize and they flower brilliantly.
Which they are doing at present.I have the tall blue, tall white and dwarf blue.
They are a good no maintenance plant, but they do tend to get invasive....Cheers..MM.
User
20 years ago
They grow almost anywhere, but for good flowering full sun is best. I have never, ever fertilised any aggies and have good flowering. If you do really want to fertilise them, a little blood and bone with some potash will do the trick.
To stop seeding, cut off the flower stalks when the bloom is spent.
Remember that these plants are an absolute haven for snails. Check the foliage early morning when it is damp to catch the little blighters.
Cheers,
Dee.
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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.
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Sparaxis
20 years ago
They DON'T grow in acidic, waterlogged clay. Apart from that, I haven't known anywhere they don't grow. They are the plants you always see along the driveway of old, untended farm houses in Vic - doing their own thing brilliantly. In some areas they have invasive weed potential so check if they are going to be a problem in your area before you plant them.
Jamus_S
20 years ago
Yeah I second what the others have said, they like fair drainage and appart from that seem to thrive on neglect. Mine are all flowering now, you tend to forget the old aggies until they bloom in the summer time. What Sparaxis said about the weed potential is very true and easily fixed. Just cut off the spent flower heads once they are finished, which serves the dual purpose of tidying up the plants and preventing the seed from dropping. Too Easy...
zeldahof
20 years ago
Would anyone know how to care for the Agapantha after brought into the house for the winter? The ones I have have started to turn yellow and the leaves are mushy to the touch. I have cut the yellow leaves off. Is this normal? Any suggestions would be great.
Many thanks,

Robin
gregaryb
19 years ago
Dianella tasmanica is an alternative if you don't wish to stress about your Agapanthus becoming weedy.
macbirch
19 years ago
Just found this thread. Robin, how cold does it get where you are? We get below 0, sometimes as low as -7. Using an online converter I believe in Fahrenheit that's 32 to about 20. Agapanthus look pretty bad here in winter but people just leave them alone until spring when the new growth appears and the yellow leaves can be cut off.

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