Agapanthus hardiness

[johnw]

A friend recently wrote to say that an Agapanthus he was given by a nurseryman last autumn has wintered and is about to flower.   I suggested it just might be one of the Headbourne hybrids.  He asked the nurseryman about it and she told him, to my shock, that it was Blue Triumphator.  Now my oldest Agapanthus from 1996 and in a tub is BT and with its wide leaves I always considered it to be one of the tender ones.

Can anyone comment on the hardiness of Blue Triumphator and any of the truly hardy ones?

I might add that we had a very mild winter last year so this might account for BT's survival.

johnw - grey, misty and 17c at 11:35.

[mark smyth]

all but one of mine died in the cold last December. I cant remember the name of the survivor

[johnw]

Mark - When I say "a very mild winter" the cold was surely much more protracted than yours.  The low here was -15.5c and the ground was thoroughly frozen from Christmas till mid March.

johnw

[fleurbleue]

John I have grown in my garden for more than 10  years Agapanthus Dr Brouwer without any protection in winter except the first and second, in a well drained soil. I give them tomatoes fertilizer once or twice a year and now they have 25 flowers.

[David Nicholson]

My "just might be one of the Headbourne Hybrids" never gets fed but it gets mulched each autumn and has, to date 47 flowering spikes. It was a present to my wife from her "babies" at least ten years ago and for it's first seven years it lived in a pot but eventually it broke the sides of the pot and we moved into the garden. I intend to split it when it dies back as it's now taking up more space than I can afford.

[angie]

Wow David, 47 flowering spikes. I just couldn't split a magnificent plant like that.  Would be nice to see a picture.

Angie

[daveyp1970]

I have dwarf blue one in my front garden that is bone hardy 5 spikes on it at the moment,it has been split and passed to people in the street last year,if you to walk down my street now you can see all the clumps flowering.
47 SPIKES David wow can anybody beat that i wonder?

[Anthony Darby]

I had one in Dunblane that survived -18^oC 2009/10 in the open garden. Haven't a clue if it survived the winter of 2010/11? I shoved the container planted ones in the garage or greenhouse - the former for 'deciduous' forms. I have Agapanthus 'Thumbelina' in the garden here, but the bog standard green ones are beginning to bud up in the flower beds around and about here.