My deciduous agapanthus is healthily re-growing. It's in the ground and flowered well last year so I don't understand why they like to be root bound. It clearly isn't as it's in the ground. I had several in the ground at my old house and they flowered well too.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
"Agapanthus like to be pot-bound", I read it everywhere. It seems to explain some of my results. It's possibly one of these mantras that was once said/written by some pundit and has been repeatedly recycled without checking. That phenomenon is quite common in gardening.
The only example I can give is not from gardening. Delia Smith once wrote:"if a cooked mussel hasn;t opened, don't eat it." This is quite wrong., but has been repeated often.
One becomes experienced by: observing, watching, reading, listening and remembering. A dose of scepticism is helpful. The experimenting phase comes later after one has accumulated some knowledge..
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Mine have always been in the ground - but restricted by fence, path, shrubs and other agapanthus (agapanthii?)
Having seen them growing in the wild(?) on the Isles of Scilly, the ones that have been flowering best, were the ones not restricted by pots, but restricted in other ways - rocks, other plants, etc.
" ... Agapanthus don't like to be planted into pots that are too spacious as this will encourage leaf growth rather than flower production. Ideally, they perform best where root development is restricted ... "
Perhaps someone knows who was the originator.
But otherwise Sarah's account is a very good read.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I have had a furtle around my agapanthus, all in pots and they are all showing signs of life. Some are evergreen, I thought I had lost them. They are in a S facing corner of the house which means they take the brunt of storms coming through during the winter. I repotted them 2 years ago and they did not flower so well last year, it will be interesting to see how they do this year. I have one planted in a very narrow S facing border, between a path and the house, which is often under water during wet weather and it grows much better than any in pots. The Camassias I planted beside it are already in bud.
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When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
The only example I can give is not from gardening. Delia Smith once wrote:"if a cooked mussel hasn;t opened, don't eat it." This is quite wrong., but has been repeated often.
One becomes experienced by: observing, watching, reading, listening and remembering. A dose of scepticism is helpful. The experimenting phase comes later after one has accumulated some knowledge..
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Having seen them growing in the wild(?) on the Isles of Scilly, the ones that have been flowering best, were the ones not restricted by pots, but restricted in other ways - rocks, other plants, etc.
If that was the case - they wouldn't grow in the ground.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
" ... Agapanthus don't like to be planted into pots that are too spacious as this will encourage leaf growth rather than flower production. Ideally, they perform best where root development is restricted ... "
Perhaps someone knows who was the originator.
But otherwise Sarah's account is a very good read.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."