The agapanthus clan must be some of the most beautiful garden plants coming from South Africa. Agapanthus campanulatus is a deciduous species which should be grown in moist, fertile but well drained soil in full sun. It has narrow, strap shaped, greyish green leaves up to sixteen inches long. The flowerheads are carried on stout stems and are rounded umbels of bell to trumpet shaped, light to rich blue, flowers. They may reach eight inches across with each flower about an inch long. This delightful species flowers from mid- to late summer and is good for flower arrangements.
Propagation: Sow seed at 55°F to 59°F when ripe or in spring. Keep seedlings in a frame for the first winter. (Seedlings take two to three years to flower.) Divide in spring. |
There are about 700 species of alliums found around the northern hemisphere but this South East Asian one seems to have all the qualities a gardener would want. It is a fine ornamental plant with edible leaves and is ideal for cutting for flower arrangements or for drying. Furthermore, it flowers over a long period from late summer into autumn and its flowers are fragrant. The flowers are tiny white stars carried in two inch umbels on upright stems while its basal and stem sheathing leaves are mid-green and about fourteen inches long. It should be grown in fertile, well drained soil in full sun and its small rhizomes planted about three inches deep in autumn.
Propagation: Sow seed in containers in a cold frame when ripe or in spring. |
While some modern lily hybrids are less quixotic, none is more beautiful than Lilium candidum with its erect flowering five foot stem, carrying as many as 20 shining white, sweetly scented, five inch trumpets in midsummer. Its overwintering basal leaves appear in autumn, arranged in a leek-like stalk. The flowering stem has twisted, lance shaped leaves arranged in a spiral or scattered around the stem. Lilium candidum should be grown in neutral or slightly alkaline, fertile but well drained, sandy soil in full sun, away from other lilies as it is susceptible to virus disease. Plant with the top of the bulb just breaking the soil surface.
Propagation: Remove scales, offsets or bulblets from dormant bulbs as soon as the foliage starts to die. |
