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I planted this Agapanthus or Lily of the Nile about three years' ago in a large pot. I followed instructions as to crowd it, otherwise it will not flower. The first year zero flowers, second year three flowers, and so far zero flowers.
Because it is consider a Tropical, it had to be placed on the pot, and I placed it in my basement at about 60 degrees temperature. The plant is green and full, and doing very well, except it does not flower. When I visit Southern California, I see them all over the highways.....
well, oddly enough it MIGHT be a problem with a possible lack of adequate cooling during the winter. agapanthus is in fact NOT a tropical and most of the cultivated plant material comes from parts of south Africa that have a relatively cool and dry "winter" period which the plant requires as a necessary period of rest/dormancy each year (think of it as kind of a kind of "chilling" requirement as in many fruit trees) the plant need to initiate flower bud for the warm season. that said, and IF the plant is otherwise healthy and the lack of a cool rest period is indeed a possible factor you might consider that you put the plant this winter in a well-lit and UNHEATED (but frost free) spot and see if that helps. good luck.
We have a clump of it here in zone 8. It blooms every year in a semi shade area of my yard. I tried to add more, but some of those died due to standing water. Otherwise, they're a nice easy care plant here. We do get the occasional freeze here in Jan and Feb, so they aren't tropical.
I planted this Agapanthus or Lily of the Nile about three years' ago in a large pot. I followed instructions as to crowd it, otherwise it will not flower. The first year zero flowers, second year three flowers, and so far zero flowers.
Because it is consider a Tropical, it had to be placed on the pot, and I placed it in my basement at about 60 degrees temperature. The plant is green and full, and doing very well, except it does not flower. When I visit Southern California, I see them all over the highways.....
Any one has had a similar experience? Thank you,
Those grow in the ground in warm weather climates. Unless you live in a cold climate, I'd put it outside, I adore them! They are all over the beach areas in So. Cal.
well, oddly enough it MIGHT be a problem with a possible lack of adequate cooling during the winter. agapanthus is in fact NOT a tropical and most of the cultivated plant material comes from parts of south Africa that have a relatively cool and dry "winter" period which the plant requires as a necessary period of rest/dormancy each year (think of it as kind of a kind of "chilling" requirement as in many fruit trees) the plant need to initiate flower bud for the warm season. that said, and IF the plant is otherwise healthy and the lack of a cool rest period is indeed a possible factor you might consider that you put the plant this winter in a well-lit and UNHEATED (but frost free) spot and see if that helps. good luck.
George: You may be right!!! I usually put it in my basement that stays at about 60 degrees F., all the time, because the heating system is there.
At the beginning of November, I shall put it in one of my garages, which are frost free, but about 41 degrees cold, and see what happens.
the other thing you may want to consider is if you are "feeding" the plant too much. sometimes if given too much fertilizer (especially nitrogen) the plant may respond with growing lots of nice leaves but no flowers. check to see what the nutritional analysis of your fertilizer is (printed on the box or bottle somewhere and especially if nitrogen (N) is a higher percentage than the other parts strongly considering either reducing how often you feed your plant during the growing season and/or dilute each application to about 1/2 the recommended dose (or both). during the winter storage period I would not do much (or any) fertilization at all FWIW. hope this is of some help to you and your plant. good luck.
I loved my Agapanthus when I lived in California. I thought I heard there's a cold hardy version that I could grow here in Denver. I noticed one of my neighbors has one, and the blue flowers are smaller than what I had in California. I'll have to ask her, but I'm hoping hers is hardy and comes back.
I loved my Agapanthus when I lived in California. I thought I heard there's a cold hardy version that I could grow here in Denver. I noticed one of my neighbors has one, and the blue flowers are smaller than what I had in California. I'll have to ask her, but I'm hoping hers is hardy and comes back.
It'll be interesting to see if it winters over. If she's had it for a few years I wonder if it's in a micro-climate that is protecting it during the winter? I noticed a few years ago that High Country Gardens was offering a white one hardy to zone 5. Lately I think I saw that they had changed it to zone 6 so it sounds like they got some feedback that it really wouldn't survive zone 5. So maybe in a very protected area? I don't have much luck getting blooms on my summer container garden ones and I may give up on them altogether. But I do love them!
FWIW, some distinction could be made between the (somewhat) hardy agapanthus which are generally deciduous in cold weather and will (hopefully) come back after exposure to a certain amount of freezing---the "headbourne" hybrids are an early example of this type. OTOH, the types usually seen in California (agapanthus Africana and a. orientalis. are generally evergreen and are badly damaged around 20f. there may be forms that involve hybrids between all of the above types under a variety of names (like "mood indigo" and "storm cloud") that may be evergreen in warmer areas and deciduous in colder areas. in any case even the "hardy" types will likely benefit from being planted in a protected spot like against a south or west wall and mulched heavily to protect the roots in areas colder than USDA 7b or so.
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