Angie

Agapanthus 'fireworks'

Agapanthus africanus; African lily; Lily of the Nile

• 
  Easy care
• 
  Bright light

• Agapanthus 'fireworks' likes...
  • 
    A sunny spot

    To get the biggest and best flowers put her in the brightest spot available. She likes full sun, ideally.

  • 
    Moist soil

    Keep her well watered through spring, summer and autumn. She’ll need very little in winter.

  • 
    Feeding

    A dose of liquid fertiliser once a month will help her produce lots of flowers.

• Quick facts

  Botanical name

  Agapanthus africanus 'fireworks'

  Nickname

  African lily; Lily of the Nile

  Plant type

  Flowering perennial

  Plant height (including pot)

  90-100cm

  Pet/Baby safe?

  Mildly toxic if eaten 

  Nursery pot size

  23cm

• About agapanthus

  Agapanthus absolutely insist on being noticed, growing tall and proud and then bursting into colour with big globes of white and purple flowers. As part of a flower collection or just on their own, they’ll look showstopping. They flower from about July to September. 

  Agapanthus originate from South Africa, so they really enjoy sun. Put them in the brightest spot in your outdoor space, so they can soak up as many rays as possible. Water them frequently, so the soil remains moist, but make sure any excess can drain out of the bottom of the pot. They may need watering daily in really hot weather.

  While most plants love a bit of room in their pot for their roots to spread out, agapanthus love their roots constricted. Oddly, they actually flower more where their roots are tightly packed. If there’s too much soil around them they’ll usually just grow more leaves, but very few flowers. Remember this when it comes to dividing your plants in future years. Always a tight pot.

  Did you know?

  The name agapanthus means ‘love flower’ in Greek. It’s not hard to see why.