Agapanthus Plants

The half a dozen little Agapanthus grown from seed last year that have been stuck in the Space Saver Greenhouse have finally been potted up into 127cm pots and released into the wild. OK a little dramatic they are sitting on the paving in front of the tomatoes which were also finally all potted up into the flower buckets today.

Growing Agapanthus from seed isn't difficult, but the plants don't grow very fast and will not produce blooms for at least two or three years. My little beauty in the garden under the tree was given to me by a neighbour called Flo, and I ended potting up into a larger and larger pot until finally I had to cut the pot off the plant as all the compost had gone and it was just a mass of roots. 

It was then that I made a raised bed and planted it next to the tree. At some time I'm going to have to split it but for the moment if not getting too much bigger each year. 

When the flowers die and the pods turn from green to pale brown in late summer or autumn place the removed seed pods from the plant in a paper bag of leave and store them until the pods split open. Remove the seeds from the split pods and place the seeds in a sealed container of small zippy bag and store them in a cool dry place until spring. Or alternatively if you don't know someone with one of these plants you can buy the seeds. 

Fill a planting tray with drainage holes with good quality compost- based potting mix and add a small amount of perlite to promote drainage. Sprinkle the seed on the potting mix and cover the seeds with 5 -6 mm of the potting mix.

Water the tray slowly until the potting mix is moist but not soaking wet and place the tray in a warm area where they will pick up sunlight for at least six hours a day. Water lightly whenever the potting mix looks dry. Germination takes around four to five weeks.

Once big enough the seedlings can be transplanted into individual pots or as I did vending machine cups. I've now moved the small plants up to the 127cm plots and I will let them gown in these for a while before I move them up a pot size again   

Quite where these will finally go I'm not quite sure? I don't really have room for more at home, I just love the plant so much, especially as it was given to me by Flo who has been in the heavenly garden for a few years now, that I would like to see the next generation of the plants flourish somewhere or give them away to friends as my neighbour Flo did.

I may donate one or two of the plants when large enough to our allotment drop off and pick up area and there is a corner one could quite happily take over. Or as I now have the plot next door and we have bees on the plot I may put four along the bottom boundary.