Agapanthus

20 Apr '06 5:58 am

I have just been reading The National (NZ) pest plant Accord article,co-ordinated by Biosecurity. They are to decide next month whether to list agapanthus praecox (the common large type ) along with the already listed mexican daisy (erigeron)banana passionfruit ,Kahill ginger ,lantana.
There is polarisation on this topic, as it is a marvellous plant for dry banks and other problem areas which need covering ,and even when not in flower ,its 1 metre foliage is attractive ,which is why it bacame popular in the first place !
Recently in our town there was a floral festival ---bus-loads of people from as far away as North of Auckland came to see it .
One entry which drew gasps of admiration was this one .The bedspread is made from hundreds of agapanthus heads - the flower petals were removed ,so that spikes were left ,and sprayed silver,white, and delicate pink .The pillows were made from white petals .
Dixie.

21 Apr '06 4:59 pm

I was hoping to get some old pots of Agapanthus at the nursery sale. There were none - perhaps this is why! I have odd clumps around the gardens which I will have to chop up and divide. I love the dwarf ones for 'proper' garden borders, but I want lots of big toughies for a really dry new place!

Dixie do you like variegated things? Cos there is the cutest wee agapanthus with variegated leaves. It is small and subtle!
cheers