Agapanthus ‘Midnight Star’
Every so often, a plant joins my category of “top plants”. This summer it has been the turn of Agapanthus ‘Midnight Star’.
Agapanthus, with their round heads of blue or white flowers, are such valuable plants for the second half of summer, providing contrast of flower form and toning in with all kinds of colour scheme, hot or cool. Lovely as the white-flowered varieties are, blue is the colour we rely upon them for.
The fact that there are dozens of different blue-flowered varieties to choose from may be baffling to all but committed Agapanthophiles! So many of them appear to vary from one another in rather subtle details, apart from such obvious distinctions as height and shades of blue, it is hard to know which ones to go for.
We have grown ‘Midnight Star’ at Bridgemere for many years and I have always considered it outstanding in terms of reliable hardiness, the depth of its colour and sheer floriferousness. But this year, when so many have failed altogether, it seems to me to have excelled itself, with two big clumps crowded with those gorgeous blue flowers being the star attraction in our gardens this month. Its spectacular performance this summer really confirms a long held view that this is a blue Agapanthus you cannot go wrong with. Meanwhile, I have my eye on another, called ‘Jack’s Blue’, with longer, more trumpet-shaped individual flowers, of a good, rich, deep blue on taller (5ft) stems. There is always room for another good plant!
Agapanthus are South African plants and will not tolerate cold, damp soil in winter, so good drainage is essential. Just to be awkward, however, they will not thrive in soil which becomes too dry in summer either, preferring it on the moist side: so well-drained soil with a good humus content is what is required, and full sun, of course. They can create a magnificent display in large containers, which you need to keep under protection in the winter.
Note for flower arrangers, or just those who like putting flowers in vases: Agapanthus make excellent cut flowers, which will last at least a week in water. For a simple arrangement, they combine delightfully with the metallic-blue, prickly round heads of Echinops ‘Veitch’s Blue’, another brilliant cut flower.
