Distinctive features of agapanthus, cultivation techniques, advice on transplanting and reproduction, pest control and problems, species, interesting facts. Agapanthus (Agapanthus) is included in the genus of herbaceous perennials belonging to the family of the same name Agapanthaceae. A little earlier, this beautiful flower was part of the Liliaceae family, and it was often called the "African lily". The new genus and, as a consequence, the family includes from 6 to 10 varieties of this representative of the flora.
Agapanthus got its name by merging two Greek principles: "agape", translated as love and "anthos" - meaning flower. It turns out either "flower of love" or "favorite flower".
The plant came to Europe at the beginning of the 17th century, approximately in 1824, agapanthus began to be grown as an ornamental culture, attracting the eye with huge inflorescences up to 20 cm in diameter, consisting of blue-violet buds. In its homeland, the flower loves to settle on the slopes of mountain peaks or on the sea coasts.
Agapanthus roots are fleshy and short branched rhizomes with a creeping shape. Usually, a root rosette is assembled from leaf plates. The sheet itself is distinguished by belt-like outlines with a thickened surface; its length can reach 20 cm.
When the plant begins the flowering process, a powerful flowering stem appears, which can reach meter indicators, but in dwarf varieties only 45 cm. At its top is an inflorescence that has a racemose or rounded shape. It sometimes includes up to 200 buds. The shades of the petals are very diverse: they can be whitish, bright ultramarine, bluish-purple, blue-violet or deep purple tones. The bud itself is large and differs in the shape of a funnel, resembling in its appearance a miniature lily, which departs from one point of the peduncle and sits on a short petiole. Since the flowers do not open in the inflorescence at the same time, the flowering process takes up to two months.
If the climate allows (it should be hot), then agapanthuses are successfully grown in garden and park plantings, they are successfully combined with tall plants in flower beds, they can beautifully border water bodies. They are often planted in curbs, emphasizing the paths and paths that are laid on the site. It stands out favorably in blue in rockeries (stone gardens). You can dilute their color scheme with species, with a whitish or purple tint of inflorescences, it looks unusually decorative.
Agapanthus cultivation, planting, care
- Illumination. In the period from spring to summer, the plant requires good lighting. If there is not enough light for the flower, then the peduncles will lengthen greatly and they will need to build supports. If you install the pot on the window of the south, southeast and southwest locations, this will contribute to its excellent growth. Otherwise, when the plant is on a north-facing window, flowering may not occur. If the plant is planted in the garden, in open ground, then it is necessary to choose a place well lit by the sun or in an openwork shade, protected from the action of drafts and wind.
- Content temperature. With the advent of spring-summer time, it is recommended to take the plant pot out into the open air - a garden, balcony or terrace will do. But with the arrival of autumn, it will be necessary to keep the plant in cool conditions, in which the heat varies within 10-12 degrees. In our climate, with a warm winter, agapanthus needs to be wrapped up (special agrofibre, sawdust or spruce branches are used), but still you should not risk it, since the "African lily" will not tolerate frost. There is information that it is permissible to grow a plant in the garden only if the thermometer readings do not fall below the -5 mark.
- Air humidity. Agapanthus perfectly tolerates low humidity in city apartments, so spraying is not required when leaving.
- Watering the plant. It is necessary to moisturize the plant abundantly from spring to autumn. With the arrival of the winter period, watering is significantly reduced, but it is monitored so that the substrate does not dry out in the pot. If water stagnates in the soil, it will lead to acidification of the soil and the root system will begin to rot. Water for humidification is taken filtered or distilled. But it is recommended to use river water or collected rainwater, and during the winter months it will be necessary to melt the snow and warm the liquid to room temperature.
- Top dressing … As soon as the plant enters the active growing season, it is necessary to apply fertilizers from mid-spring to mid-autumn after a 10-day break. Top dressing is selected in the form of complex mineral solutions and organic matter (for example, a mullein diluted in water is suitable). It is recommended to alternate these fertilizers.
- Transfer and selection of soil. If the plant is still very young or is not large in size, then it is recommended to change the pot and soil annually in spring, and adult specimens will require this operation only once every 3-4 years. The pot should not be enlarged too much, since the flowering is more abundant in the agapanthus, if its root system is a little cramped in the container, it is best when the container matches the size of the root system. The plant does not like when it is often disturbed, its roots break off very easily, and therefore it is recommended to transplant by the transshipment method, when the earthen lump does not collapse. You can plant a young "African lily" in a large pot, but in this case there is the possibility of flooding the soil. A good layer of drainage is poured into the container (pieces of shards, medium fraction of expanded clay or pebbles can act as it), after holes have been made in the bottom for the drain of excess liquid.
When it is planted in open ground, it is necessary to mulch the agapanthus, the mulch can help the soil stay moist for a long time and protect the plant from weeds. With such a planting, the distance between the bushes should not be less than half a meter.
The substrate is selected for transplantation, sufficiently nutritious with a small addition of clay (it will help to retain moisture). The acidity should be neutral. The soil mixture is made up of the following components: humus soil, leafy soil, clay-sod substrate and river sand (all in a ratio of 2: 2: 2: 1).
Self-propagation of agapanthus
You can get a new plant with delicate blue flowers by sowing seeds, dividing the bush and using shoots.
Usually, next to the mother bush, daughter plants (children) develop at the roots, which can be carefully separated from the adult specimen and planted in a separate container with soil suitable for growing agapanthus. If you take good care of them, the plants will grow sharply. When separating children, extreme care must be taken, because if the root system is affected, then flowering will not occur.
Seed planting is usually carried out in early spring. Seeds of "African lily" will need to be soaked in warm water for 2 hours before planting. They are sown in a substrate mixed on the basis of deciduous soil in half with river sand, without covering it up, but only dusting it with the same soil. The container with seeds must be covered with a piece of glass or a plastic bag. It is necessary to carry out regular moistening of the soil and airing 1-2 times a day for 30-40 minutes. You can use peat tablets for planting, then when transplanting a developed plant, its roots will not be harmed. As soon as a pair of true leaf blades appears and grows on the sprouts, it is necessary to carefully dive the seedlings into separate containers with more fertile soil. In the spring, when a plant is transplanted, an overgrown agapanthus bush can be divided. For this, a sharpened knife is used to cut the root system into divisions. Sections of these parts must be powdered with crushed activated charcoal or charcoal and dried. In this case, the cut itself is left open, but all the roots will need to be wrapped with a damp soft cloth and so hold the delenki for several days. Then it is necessary to plant parts of the agapanthus in separate containers with a fertile substrate, but it is important not to overmoisten it later. As soon as it becomes clear that rooting has gone well and the division has begun to grow actively, then you can water and care for the plant normally.
When agapanthus is planted in open ground, the root system by the arrival of autumn grows very much in different directions. And it is possible, with the subsequent digging of the plant, to damage its roots so that flowering may not occur in the next year. Therefore, it is recommended to plant agapanthus in the garden right in the pot in which it was grown, just digging it in a little.
Difficulties and problems in the cultivation of agapanthus
If the leaves of the agapanthus began to turn yellow, this means that the soil has become waterlogged, in which case it will be necessary to adjust the watering. When the flower-bearing stems are strongly stretched upward, then the reason is insufficient lighting.
Drying and falling of foliage means damage by pests: spider mites or scale insects. To combat them, you will need to dilute the laundry soap in water and wipe the leaf blades and agapanthus stems with this solution. If necessary, treatment with insecticidal preparations (for example, Aktellikom) is also carried out.
When the plant is grown in the garden, slugs or snails can bother it. To eliminate these problems, sprinkle crushed eggshells or diatomaceous earth around the plant.
Agapanthus is sometimes affected by fungal diseases - they are used to treat fungicides.
Agapanthus species
- Agapanthus umbellatus (Agapanthus umbellatus). It can also be found under the synonym of African agapanthus (Agapanthus africanus). It is popularly called "African lily" or "Abyssinian beauty". The flower can safely call its homeland the lands of southern Africa, mainly the Cape province. This variety has a branched rhizome and a herbaceous form of growth, in the natural environment it stretches to a height of 70 cm. The leaf rosette is highly decorative, it collects belt-shaped leaves that grow to a length of 40 cm. Their surface is smooth, the color is dark green. They differ in the presence of a groove and a narrowing at the apex. The peduncle growing from the center of the rosette can reach up to 70 cm. However, there is a dwarf variety of this species, Albus Nanus, in which the height of the flower-bearing stem does not even reach 40 cm, and in the plants of the Lilliput group it is even less - only 10 cm. At the top of the peduncle there is an inflorescence in the form of a ball or umbrella, reaching up to 20 cm in diameter; buds of 20–30 units are collected in it. The main form has flowers painted in a blue-violet color, but a garden variety (for example, Albidus) has been bred, in which the perianth petals are whitish, and their ends are decorated with purple spots. The shape of the bud is funnel-shaped, and the perianth has 6 petals, the bases of which are spliced. After the flowers bloom, seeds ripen in 35–40 days. The flowering process occurs in the second half of the summer months.
- Eastern agapanthus (Agapanthus orientalis). It is also called the early agapanthus eastern subspecies (Agapanthus praecox subsp. Orientalis). The native growing area is the south of the African continent. The plant is an evergreen perennial with a herbaceous form of growth. The leaf plates are wide with linear outlines, thick, and have a curvature. The resulting peduncle stretches to a height of 60 cm. The inflorescence with the appearance of an umbrella consists of flowers, the number of which can reach a hundred. The shade of the petals of the buds is blue and the flowering process stretches from mid to late summer.
- Agapanthus campanulatus. It is found under the synonymous name Agapanthus patens. Grows in a humid climate on the slopes of the southern mountains of Africa. It is a perennial with a deciduous form of growth, in the form of a grass. The leaf plates have linear outlines, and are measured in lengths of 15 cm, erect. The corolla of the flower is bell-shaped and the petals are blue. The flowering process occurs in the summer months.
- Closed agapanthus (Agapanthusinapertus BEAUVERD). Usually found in the eastern lands of southern Africa. The flowers are drooping, not opening, the color is dark blue or purple. The leaves are bluish-green and are deciduous. The height of the bush can reach 1.5 meters. Bloom from August to October. The plant has the peculiarity of easily crossing between its species and work is being actively carried out on its selection. Hybrid varieties arise with free pollination, so it is very difficult to accurately determine which species a particular flower belongs to.
Interesting facts about agapanthus
Agapanthus serves as a very good indoor air filter, as it efficiently cleans all the air space provided. In terms of the distribution of phytoncides in the air, the plant surpasses even the well-known properties of garlic cloves. Also, agapanthus is able to extinguish the effect of heavy metals in the air of a room - it simply absorbs them.
Flowers of the "African lily" stand in vases for a very long time after cutting. It is recommended to cut the flower stem as soon as the first buds begin to blossom. It is interesting that when the inflorescences dry up, they do not lose their decorative effect and they are often used to create "winter" bouquets. In Africa (in the homeland of agapanthus), it is considered to be a medicinal and almost magical plant, the flowers of which are able to attract good luck and abundance to the house in which the plant is grown. If a woman was expecting a child, then she made a necklace for herself from the roots of the "African lily" and wore it as an amulet so that the future baby would be born healthy and strong. In the very last stages, taking drugs based on agapanthus leads to contractions and enhances their effect.
In some tribes, the priests used the "Abyssinian beauty" to cure heart disease, paralysis, symptoms of a cold or cough.
If a person was afraid of thunderstorms and was afraid of being struck by lightning, then he wore flowers as a protective amulet. And for people who travel a lot and spend a long time on foot, it was recommended to put agapanthus leaf plates in shoes to soothe tired legs or wrap them around their feet to relieve fatigue.
If you steam the long belt-like leaves of the "African lily", then they can be used as a bandage when dressing wounds or skin problems. There are observations that tying a leaf around the wrist will help relieve fever, since they contain substances that have the effect of removing inflammation and swelling, and also have a very beneficial effect on the human immune system, maintain the body's tone.
However, agapanthus juice is not as safe as it seems. It has toxic substances in its composition, when it comes into contact with the skin, which cause strong reproduction.
You will learn more about agapanthus from this video:
