Agapanthus

A cracking plant originally collected in the Lydenburg District of Mpumalanga of South Africa and grown for years in the treasure house of Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden. This comes naturally from a fairly cold location and these plants have decent hardiness for an Agapanthus. Upright gray-green leaves lead the eye up and up to over 40" where the pale sky blue flower heads with large drooping individual florets are captivating. Not an easy plant to obtain here in the States.

A UK selection of this smaller, deciduous Agapanthus shared with us by plantsman Jim Fox.  Short foliage is appropriate for the 20"-24" tall flower stems holding baseball-sized heads of deep dark blue flowers that are right on the edge of having some purple influence.  The size works well in containers - just don't leave out over winter to freeze - and would be excellent near the front of garden beds paired with other sun-lovers like Blood Grass, Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra' or the groundcover Cotula 'Tiffindell Gold'.  We mulch our Agapanthus prior to arctic blasts and this selection might be good to zone 7a with enough mulch and if the freezes are not prolonged.

Eschew any traditional 25th anniversary gift in favor of this Agapanthus introduction of UK national collection holder Hoyland Plants. Elegant white flowers with a tinge of blue that lend it the argent look and a relatively compact form make for a classier present than excessive jewelry or dishes anyway.