Online Flower Garden – Explore the World of Flowers and Gardening
Agapanthus Praecox loves the sun and creates a beautiful display of white or violet globe-shaped flowers. They are used in gardens, sidewalks, and in borders. They complement a lot of landscaping for major urban cityscapes and office buildings.
Agapanthus Praecox flowers are clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers that are formed like a globe. The name is from Greek “agape” means love, and “anthos” means flower.
It is also commonly known as Blue Lily, Agapanthus, African Lily, or Lily of the Nile. It is not really a Lily as the common name suggests. Other common names include Agapant, Bloulelie, Isicakathi, or Ubani. Agapanthus Praecox is part of the Amaryllidaceae family of plants. It is native to South Africa. It is a perennial that can live for 75 years.
The leaves are evergreen, narrow, and long about 1in or 2cm wide and almost 20in or 50cm long. The flowers grow in umbels of trumpet shaped blue or white flowers. It flowers in the summer. The fruits are capsules. They contain black speeds.
How to grow Agapanthus Praecox:
Grow in the sun in sheltered location. Plant it in humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil. Propagate by division in spring. Pruning is not necessary. Simply cut back dead flower stems. However, you can keep the seed heads over winter as they are attractive. It is generally pest-free and disease-free. Watch out for slugs, snails and gall. It is also susceptible to virus disease.
Other synonyms include:
Agapanthus umbellatus
Agapanthus orientalis
Agapanthus praecox subsp. orientalis
Agapanthus africanus
