Plant Of The Week THE AFRICAN LILY

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29725, 19 January 1962, Page 6

Plant Of The Week THE AFRICAN LILY

One of the delights in many gardens at this time of year is the African Lily. Tall, stout stents, up to three feet in height, or even more, surmounted with a cluster of blue, trumpet-shaped flowers, making a head up to six inches across. The strapshaped leaves form a cluster down at the base, so that they don’t interfere with your appreciation of the flowers. Common, maybe, but garden-worthy nevertheless. A garden near my home has African lilies planted along the whole road frontage, and they make a delightful sight for three weeks in the summer.

The botanical-minded gardener calls them Agapanthus, and they have passed through a series of name changes and confusions. For the gardener it is probably accurat* enough to call them Agapanthus orientalis. but it is as well to note that this plant is not a true lily, but has merely usurped the names. Most varieties are shades of blue, but there are white, violet and even pink sorts available. In most varieties the flowers in their cluster stand out straight in their individual stalks, but there is one called inapertus- which has bells which hang down, creating quite a distinct appearance.

Although the African lily likes water, it is far more drought resistant then commonly given credit for. In 1957 I was the relatively indifferent recipient of a plant from a friend, ft was taken home and literally dumped on the ground in a dry but shady spot. Grass grew over the roots, and there it stayed, unwatered and uncared for until the 1958 summer. Then, stimulated by admiration for its resistance. I heeled the plant in. and it proceeded to grow a little. In summer, 1960, the piece of ground in which it grew being required for other things, it was lifted again and stood on top of the soil behind a west fence. With no care and attention it still stayed alive. In October, 1961, it was planted in a permanent home, and it has now rewarded the four years of maltreatment and neglect by producing two spikes of flowers! Not a pretty story for a gardener—but it does show how tough the African lily really is. I would not have believed it had I not experienced it. The secret, of course, is those thick white roots, which seems to act as storage organs. For a sunny spot in the garden, or a tub on the patio, Agapanthus is quite a decorative plant.