Agapanthus in Zones 5-6

[Your Letters 2]

Do you have any hints on how to overwinter agapanthus here in Michigan..? thanks in advance.   - J.T. -

 

[Janet Macunovich 32]

Ah, agapanthus - big blue globe flowers at high summer, they turn plenty of gardeners' heads and make those of us in cold zones crazy jealous.

 

In zone 8 and warm 7 areas they are a bit like daylilies. There, gardeners may react to our "wow" with, "Oh those things? They multiply like rabbits and get so crowded they stop blooming well. I wish someone WOULD come dig a bunch of them out..."

 

If you're in zone 6, or the warm edge of zone 5 you can probably go out in late fall and heap a lot of mulch over the spot where you planted an agapanthus, and have it survive. Not thrive. Just survive. We know at least one gardener who does that and the plant has come back. It blooms later than it would "at home" in a warmer zone, probably because it gets started later than usual. And it certainly has not bulked up much -- what was a clump able to produce one flowerstalk  three years ago finally produced two stems last year. And you must first be sure it's in a good place-- very good drainage, plenty of sun, loose fertile soil.