Hi Karen

Agapanthus are hardy here. I live north of Toronto – American zone 4, I think. I grow both white and blue and do not mulch
for winter, but I have good, deep snow cover.
These have persisted and bloomed for over 10 years.

Headbourne hybrids are reputed to be the
hardiest, and they are also the most inexpensive.

That is wonderful! Can you tell me more about your soil that you grow the agapanthus in? What does headbourne hybrids mean?

I so appreciate your response, ninamarie. As you advised, I will split half the plant in the fall and bring that part indoors. Thank you again.

We have very little frost here normally and Agapanthus do grow here like weeds. In Dec.1990 we had four nights of 12 degrees. All the plants above ground were turned to mush, a big mess to remove. The roots were not damaged and within two years they were back to normal. Al

Great info! Hope it's okay to threadjack a bit.
I bought some *Thundercloud* Agapanthus last year. Got 2 5" pots at the beginning of the year. They were very pot bound--hard as a rock! I read that they like to be pot bound and grown in pots, so I planted them in one size larger container and they leafed beautifully but never bloomed.
I want to put them in the ground this Spring but am unsure if I should saw the root ball in two or just stick them in as they are.
Any suggestions? Thank you!

The roots need to grow out into the ground. Tease them out with your fingers or a fork. You will damage some root, but the plant will take off quickly once planted. If the roots are really tangled and really thick, try to unwind and unknot them like a ball of string.
I would be curious about the differences in agapanthus varieties, so, if you can, please show us a picture once they come to bloom.

I had some Agapanthus Headbourne Hybrids in my old garden but the plants were killed in a 'cold' Dutch winter. Another thing Agapanthus dislikes is winter wet which leads to (root) rot. Last year I planted out some Headbourne Hybrids that I grew from seed (from Chiltern Seeds). Left them in the ground this winter but have not yet checked if they are OK. Winter was not cold here in the Netherlands but January was very wet.

Pretty soon I will hear from my brother-in-law in Calfiroria who will complain about all the agapanthus self-seeding in his garden. I just have to mention how difficult it is for him to grow tulips and daffodils there to shut him up.

ninamarie Most impressive! I have always passed over even looking at Agapanthus believing they were not hardy here. I will definitely keep an eye out for the Headbourne hybrids.

Oh, how beautiful! I wonder if I get these kind of blooms the first year of growing them.

gardenprince, can you let us know how your seedlings fare this winter? Thanks

I keep meaning to try them but always forget.... A former neighbour used to grow some but she heavily protected them for the winter. I have a few Brodiaea laxative bulbs that people sometimes assume are agapanthus. I need to add a few more of those too I think.

Thanks Nina, pretty blooms and funny story about the tulips!

The Headbourne hybrid strain have declined somewhat in recent years but you could try the deciduous A..Campanulatus rather than the evergreen A.Africanus or A,Praecox.

Thanks Campanula. I had not realized that some of the varieties were evergreen. I wonder if that also means that some of the new fancy hybrids are better plants.

I agree 100% with Campanula. Get a named cultivar, not the so-called Headbourne hybrid strain, that probably isn't what it was way back whenever. Edelweiss Perennials and various other PNW sellers like Dancing Oaks or Far Reaches usually have a good selection. I've had good luck with 'Balmoral'.
They most assuredly would not be hardy in zn 4 w/o snow cover. Snow cover permits many things that would otherwise be impossible; Ellen Hornig could grow various zn 8 perennials and bulbs at Seneca Hill Perennials because of her incredibly reliable and deep snow cover in Oswego.

Sadly all Edelweiss is offering this year is this:
http://www.edelweissperennials.com/Large_Image.aspx?plantName=1246

Pale, short and shy-blooming? These are all reasons to avoid the often blah plants that are being sold here and there under the name 'Headbourne Hybrids'!!!

Thank you all for your responses. I have learned so much about agapanthus! The only thing is how do I know which species the named ones fall under? Will the seller list the species name along with the cultivar name?

In many plant collecting communities the "named ones" are usually hybrids and having a separate identification of the hybrid is considered unnecessary (or impossible). In fact if a species name is included it's usually to clarify that it is not a hybrid. So, Rhododendron cerasinum 'Cherry Brandy' identifies the 'Cherry Brandy' selection of the pure species cerasinum, while almost nobody would write Rhododendron X loderi 'King George', they would just call it Rhododendron 'King George' because this hybrid is universally known (among rhododendron collectors) as a member of the loderi 'grex'. Grex is a term used for a series of 'siblings' derived from the same cross of 2 species, in that case Rhododendron giffithianum and Rhododendron fortunei. It's most frequently used by rhododendron collectors but finds its way into books on various other genera so probably deserves mention here. I'm sure the big Timber Press book on Agapanthus must use the word grex somewhere, because some named varieties were drawn from multiple selections of the same crossing. However the typical garden varieties are mostly derived from early hybrids and crosses made, apparently, near Headbourne, England, involving multiple crosses and species. So you'd call them a group, not a grex, because they were not limited to a single cross between 2 known species.

The main parent of the Headbourne hybrids is Agapanthus campanulatus, as Campanula (how fitting!) noted. Lady Skelmersdale herself provides further details here.

Hope that helps!

For example, the cultivar that you recommend, "Balmoral", would that be A..Campanulatus, A.Africanus or A,Praecox?

There's probably no way to be certain, though it could be covered in the Timber Press book on Agapanthus. Given the English name, it's likely just another selection of the Headbourne hybrids. But, IMHO, it would be incorrect to call it A. campanulatus 'Balmoral' unless it were 100% certain it was only derived from that species. The article linked above says the Headbournes started with a "mixed" lot of seeds from South Africa. Other alpine species could have contributed, like Agapanthus patens. I have an A. patens from the late great Seneca Hill Nursery I one day want to cross with some other Agapanthus.

The loderis were probably a bad example in some ways, as commercially they are referred to in every possible way: just 'King George', or 'Loderi King George' or X loderi 'King George'. 99% of American rhododendron collectors in discussion or personal correspondance would just call it 'King George'. The official RHS registration might well be 'Loderi King George', but that sort of a naming wouldn't be permitted these days.

And, funny enough A. patens has now been folded into Agapanthus campanulatus as a subspecies.