Description

Family Amaryllidaceae
Garden origin

• Rich, dark evergreen strap-shaped leaves, form a compact clump.
• Large globes of rich velvety purple flowers are held on stout stems.
• Easy to grow in full sun and free draining soil and in pots.

Possibly the best dark, true blue agapanthus, with compact basal rosettes of upright broad, and stout strap-shaped deciduous leaves, with pointed tips, giving the plant a solid, bushy visual impact at its base. The thick and sturdy flowering stems emerge in midsummer and provide excellent support for the flowers, elevating them well above the foliage, which forms a lush, dense, slowly spreading clump, about 25cm tall, beneath the profusion of blooms. This has been an outstanding, vigorous performer in our Exotic Woodland garden at our Beccles branch in Suffolk, where it has spread to form a dense clump in just two seasons.

The lustrous deep royal blue globe-shaped flowers are composed of many individual trumpet-shaped blooms, emerging as deeper blue buds alongside fully open trumpets, giving each flower head a two-tone richness of colour. The dense mass of blooms in each flower makes a well-defined globe shape, and the sheer number of them makes an attention-grabbing spectacle from a distance. ‘Midnight Star’ generates a multitude of flowering stems, resulting in a continuous succession of blooms that can persist for well over a month. After flowering, large green seed pods develop, gradually maturing to a tan colour, contributing to an architectural display that extends into late autumn.

Few plants encapsulate the essence of Mediterranean style as effectively as the African Lily. Its upright blooms infuse an architectural statement into any garden style, making it equally fitting for contemporary, coastal, and traditional English gardens. The rich coloration of this variety looks stunning alongside purple-leaved plants such as Cercis ‘Ruby Falls’ and ‘Merlot’ – as we have them paired in our garden, and with silver-leaved plants such as olives and yuccas, as well as with the vibrant oranges and yellows of Heleniums and Rudbeckias.

For optimal growth, plant this agapanthus in full sun and well-draining soil. It also excels in pots. To safeguard the large fleshy bulbs during winter, consider applying a protective mulch.

Height and spread after 2 – 5 years 80cm x 80cm.