Also known by more common names such as Lily of the Nile and African Lily, agapanthus is a genus of seven species of perennial plants with bell-shaped vibrant flowers. They are native to South Africa and do well in zones 7-10. They tend to bloom for up to six months, from early summer until fall in shades of blue, pink, purple, and white often with a darker center stripe on each petal. Flowers bloom on tall stalks, and leaves spread out wide and long from the base. The leaves can be evergreen or deciduous depending on the variety and dark to light green, gray-green, or blue-green in color.
Agapanthus blooms are easy to care for and have a wide array of landscaping uses, from filling garden beds to bordering yards. These plants also attract hummingbirds, are excellent cut flowers and many are deer and rabbit resistant. Agapanthus is toxic for both humans and pets.
Agapanthus, also known as African lily or lily of the Nile, is a gorgeous flowering plant that makes a striking addition to any garden. With its long-lasting summer blooms and graceful foliage, agapanthus brings ample beauty and enjoyment to landscapes across a range of growing zones. Beyond visual appeal, agapanthus offers an array of functional benefits that make it a treasured plant for many gardeners.
An Elegant Flowering Groundcover
Agapanthus spreads via thick rhizomatous roots to form attractive clumps with strappy green leaves fanning out 18 inches wide. The leaves make a lush groundcover suppressing weeds and blanketing the soil’s surface. Throughout summer, towering flower stems emerge, exploding into spherical blooms. The colorful globes contrast beautifully with the foliage, adding height and drama. The entire plant spreads steadily but not aggressively. For these reasons, agapanthus functions beautifully as a flowering groundcover, offering visual interest at ground level and several feet above.
Long Bloom Season
One of the best aspects of growing agapanthus is the incredibly long bloom season. Depending on your growing zone and variety, agapanthus flowers from early summer through late summer or even early fall. Deadheading spent blooms encourages continual flowering. As opposed to many flowering perennials that only bloom for a couple weeks, you can enjoy agapanthus for months on end. The prolific flowers will keep your garden constantly refreshed with color.
Wide Range of Heights and Colors
Through selective breeding, horticulturists have developed agapanthus hybrids that bloom in white, blues, purples and bicolors. Plant size also varies dramatically, from petite 10-inch varieties like ‘Tinkerbell’ and ‘Peter Pan’ to towering varieties over 5 feet tall, like ‘Stevie’s Wonder.’ This diversity allows you to choose the perfect agapanthus for your design needs. Use short varieties to front a flowerbed, medium height plants for borders, and tall types as striking vertical elements.
Heat and Drought Resistance
Since agapanthus originated in the rocky, dry mountainsides of South Africa, they evolved impressive heat and drought tolerance. Once established, agapanthus is quite resilient to heat waves and periods of drought. Especially the deciduous varieties can withstand dry conditions. This toughness makes agapanthus ideal for hot climates and xeriscaping. Provided good drainage, agapanthus will be quite resilient in the garden.
Attracts Pollinators
Butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and other pollinators flock to the nectar-rich blooms of agapanthus. By planting clumps of this flowering perennial, you can support local pollinator populations while enjoying the sight of these beneficial insects fluttering through your garden. The pollinator activity also contributes to fruit and vegetable yields for edible gardens. Beyond benefiting you and your plants, planting agapanthus and other pollinator-friendly flowers helps sustain the interconnected web of life in your local ecology.
Cold Hardiness and Winter Interest
While the most tender evergreen varieties only thrive down to Zone 8, deciduous agapanthus can survive cold winters in Zone 7 or even Zone 6 when heavily mulched. This cold hardiness makes agapanthus a great choice even for cooler climates. The deciduous varieties also provide winter interest once their leaves die back, revealing intriguing dried seed heads. Use the dried flower stems in floral arrangements or leave them standing as architectural elements in the winter garden.
Easy Care Needs
Agapanthus plants are quite tough and unfussy once established. They require very little maintenance or intervention to thrive. Simply plant in full sun to part shade, avoid overwatering, fertilize occasionally, remove spent blooms, and divide clumps every few years. Agapanthus has few pest or disease problems, with good resistance even to deer. For all their beauty and benefits, agapanthus plants require minimal care and attention.
Excellent Cut Flowers
The elegant blooms of agapanthus make exceptional cut flowers. Their spherical shape and painterly colors add bold texture and interest to arrangements. Harvest stems when blooms begin opening, taking care to avoid the toxic sap. Remove spent blooms promptly, cut stems to varied heights, and display in a slender vase to allow each flower’s beauty to shine The dried seed heads also provide artistic value in dried floral designs and everlasting arrangements.
Thrives in Containers
Since agapanthus enjoys being root-bound, growing in containers often yields better flowering than planting in the ground. Plant one agapanthus per 12-inch pot for optimal bloom production. Use a rich, well-draining potting mix, fertilize regularly, and provide full sun. Bring pots indoors over winter or grow evergreen varieties in Zone 8 or warmer. Container growing allows you to position agapanthus in prime spots around patios, entryways and other hardscaping.
Provides Privacy and Security
Mature clumps of agapanthus make excellent privacy screens when planted in rows or clusters. The substantial leaves conceal without fully obstructing views or light. Along property boundaries and around poolsides and patios, a row of agapanthus prevents prying eyes. The plants also make a protective barrier that obscures valuables stored outside like pool equipment. For security and privacy with beauty arrange agapanthus plants strategically on your property.
Deer Resistant
Deer often devour flower gardens, but agapanthus holds little appeal for these four-legged pests. Even hungry deer will pass it by. Without fear of deer destroying all your hard work, you can confidently grow agapanthus as a lush, flowering centerpiece in your garden. For gardeners plagued by deer and other wildlife, agapanthus is a reliably hardy, resilient choice.
Low Maintenance Groundcover Alternative
Many popular groundcover plants like ivy, vinca and pachysandra can spread aggressively out of bounds. In contrast, agapanthus stays neatly constrained, expanding slowly into a tidy clump that tops out around 18 inches wide. Unlike unruly groundcovers, agapanthus is unlikely to require frequent pruning or ripping out of unwanted growth. The foliage actively suppresses weeds, unlike turf grass that allows weeds to creep in. For a groundcover that requires minimal maintenance compared to common problem-prone alternatives, agapanthus is an ideal choice.
Versatile Landscape Plant
The clean foliage, full blooms, and height diversity of agapanthus lend themselves to almost any garden aesthetic. Use agapanthus in formal gardens, cottage gardens, rock gardens, xeriscapes, tropical gardens or to soften native plantings. Agapanthus looks right at home alongside roses, foxglove, grasses, boxwood hedges and more. It also grows well in decorative pots and planters. With so many options, it’s easy to find an agapanthus variety tailor-made for your unique landscape vision.
Frugal Florist’s Favorite
For floral designers and DIY bridal parties, agapanthus provides budget-friendly, locally grown blooms compared to imported flowers. Gathering buckets of your homegrown blooms eliminates the need to purchase costly florist flowers for events and arrangements. Not only does homegrown agapanthus save money, it also allows you to match your floral designs precisely to your color scheme.
Provides Food Source for Bees
Bees gather nectar and pollen from the flowers of agapanthus for food. Since urban development has decreased natural food sources for pollinators, purposefully planting agapanthus and other bee-friendly plants helps provide essential nutrition. Supporting stable bee populations contributes positively to the health of your whole ecosystem while allowing you to enjoy watching bees happily buzzing through your garden.
Attracts Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds adore sipping nectar from the tubular blooms of agapanthus. Planting clumps of agapanthus throughout your garden will attract these captivating pollinators to visit and return frequently. The sight of tiny hummingbirds hovering and feeding among the flowers brings joys, and seeing them up-close offers fascinating glimpses into their unique behaviors.
Provides summer color
The blooms of agapanthus open just as many spring-blooming bulbs begin to fade. This exquisite timing means agapanthus flowers can provide nonstop color in your garden from early spring through late summer. The globe-shaped flower clusters ascend just as spring bulbs decline, baton-passing the garden show to agapanthus’ summer spectacle.
Tolerates poor soils
While rich, fertile soil yields the most abundant blooms, agapanthus can tolerate poor, sandy, acidic or clay soils. In fact, overly rich soils sometimes cause floppy stems and sparse flowering. Provided adequate drainage, agapanthus withstands less-than-ideal soil conditions that spell doom for more finicky flowering plants. This resilience makes it a trusty choice for problem spots.
Easy to propagate
Agapanthus happily multiplies when divided every few years. The fast, easy propagation
Pruning
Once flowers fade, remove the entire stem to promote repeat blooming. Remove dead or damaged foliage at any time but avoid cutting back foliage from deciduous types after blooming. Leaves feed the rhizome which stores energy for next years bloom so let them die back naturally. The leaves of evergreen varieties can be trimmed to six to eight inches to ease division and planting in containers.
Water
Water regularly to provide 1 inch per week until plants are established, then reduce the amount to 1/2 inch per week. Agapanthus are drought resistant and wont tolerate standing water. Significantly reduce or eliminate watering in winter until new growth begins the following spring.
Caring for agapanthus – Golden Rules
FAQ
What are the healing properties of agapanthus?
What are the magical uses of agapanthus?
What are the medicinal uses of agapanthus?
Where is the best place to plant agapanthus?
Can Agapanthus grow in pots?
If you’re growing agapanthus in pots, plant rhizomes in spring, 1 inch deep and 8 inches apart. Use a fertile, well-draining potting mix and a container with drainage holes. A 12-inch diameter pot is the right size to accommodate one plant, but plants bloom best when they are pot-bound.
Can Agapanthus be used in a garden?
There are so many uses for Agapanthus in a garden. In a warm climate—Agapanthus is native to South Africa—it is a hardy plant that can be expected to return year after year. Plant clumps of it in drifts alongside a path, or in containers (to contain its urge to spread by rhizomes).
Can Agapanthus be grown from seed?
Although agapanthus can be grown from seed, it takes several years for plants to grow large enough to bloom. Seed-grown plants vary widely due to the plant’s long history of hybridization. Most gardeners start with purchased plants, divisions, or bare-root rhizomes (fleshy rootlike structures), which yield flowering plants in just a season or two.
Can you replant Agapanthus?
Replant as you would a new agapanthus plant. The most effective technique for multiplying agapanthus plants is division. Although seeds can be collected from faded flowers and planted directly in the soil, this is not the recommended method for propagating agapanthus plants.