Legacy of Lilies

Beautiful flowers fill this garden with color and memories year after year.

Every summer, Caroline Benson enjoys the memories of her grandfather that bloom in containers on the terrace around her pool.The pots contain lilies-of-the-Nile, often called by their botanical name, Agapanthus. In 1974, Caroline's grandfather presented her with a single specimen of this South African perennial. As the plant increased in size, Caroline steadily divided it. Over the years, this gift gave birth to scores of offspring.

Try the Hardy Hybrids

A mainstay of gardens in the Coastal and Tropical South, agapanthus is much less common farther north where winters are colder. However, new, hardier hybrids can survive winter outdoors in the ground throughout the entire Lower South and much of the Middle South. In the Upper South and colder parts of the Middle South, you can grow them in pots that you bring inside for winter. That's what Caroline does at her home in Easton, Maryland.

Whorls of funnel-shaped flowers appear in summer atop sturdy stems that rise from clumps of straplike leaves. Some types boast evergreen foliage; others die to the ground in winter. Selections range in size from 1 ½ to 5 feet tall or more. Although some produce white flowers, blue and purple are the most popular colors.

Recommended selections include 'Elaine' (blue-purple flowers, 4 feet tall, evergreen), 'Ellamae' (deep blue, 5 feet tall, evergreen), 'Storm Cloud' (cobalt blue, 3 to 4 feet tall, evergreen), 'Mood Indigo' (deep violet, 3 to 4 feet tall, deciduous), 'Peter Pan' (sky blue, 1 ½ feet tall, evergreen), 'Rancho White' (white, 1 ½ feet tall, evergreen), and 'Snowstorm' (white, 2 ½ feet tall, evergreen). All look great in pots or massed in borders.

Growing Tips

Give these plants full sun from dawn until noon and light shade in afternoon. Good drainage is a must. Feed in spring with a slow-release fertilizer, such as Osmocote Vegetable & Bedding Slow Release Plant Food 14-14-14, according to label directions. Keep the soil moist when the plants are blooming; let it become slightly dry between waterings at other times.

In areas where plants need winter protection, take them indoors to a cool, dark place that doesn't freeze. Keep soil barely moist. Then take them outside after your last spring frost. You can also overwinter plants in a greenhouse or sun porch.

Agapanthus bloom better when pot-bound, but when plants seem ready to burst their pots, it's time to divide. Do so just after they finish blooming or in fall. Pull apart the roots with your hands, or use a sharp spade to cut the clump into sections. Then replant, or repot.

STEVE BENDER

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jun 2005
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