Looking spiffy with white flowers and purple Salvia against a grey wall.
Looking spiffy with white flowers and purple Salvia against a grey wall.
Looking spiffy with white flowers and purple Salvia against a grey wall.
Looking spiffy with white flowers and purple Salvia against a grey wall.
That color is just unreal. I fell hard for it, too. I have a larger one called Storm Cloud that I just moved to my much sunnier community garden plot, and also just planted a dwarf variety from Joy Creek called Sandringham. Maurice (my boss) told me he hand-carried it over to the US after visiting Christopher Lloyd's garden at Great Dixter in England, a long time ago. Feels pretty special. :)
ReplyDelete"Unreal" is a good description. What other flower is that color? Walked by there again this morning, and swooned again.
DeleteOh, boy, you bring up 'Sandringham', which I got at Joy Creek during the 2014 Fling...still waiting for the very first flower six years later. The plant is very very healthy, in full sun, and not that a descendant of a plant hand-carried from Greater Dixter isn't pretty wonderful...but when is it going to bloom, dammit!
I mean, what am I doing wrong?
DeleteIt's gorgeous, HB. I've admired 'Storm Cloud' for it's dark blue color but your neighbor's specimen may be deeper still. I planted bulbs of 'Stevie's Wonder' last year, which is just starting to bloom now and it's turned out to be a darker blue than I'd anticipated but still not as deep as the one in your photos.
ReplyDeleteI ended up ordering 'Black Pantha', but will continue to search for 'Graskop' (and continue to keep an eye out for a chance to ask that neighbor). Another plus for 'Graskop' is its size which is on the small side. Agapanthus spend so much of the year out of flower, a giant plant is not a plus.
DeleteHave you tried San Marcos? It's on their July2020 availability list. Knowing you you have already seen this and tried, but I repeated it anyway
ReplyDeletehttps://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/primelist.asp
Agapanthus inapertus ssp. pendulus 'Graskop'
but only a few are available.
Great idea! Now must think which retail garden center will be willing to try to get it for me. Will check, thanks!
DeletePut a lovely note through the person's front door, and leave a little posy. I am sure you will have made a new friend.
ReplyDeleteAnother great idea. Maybe I have a plant I can trade with they might like, too. Thanks!
DeleteThis is one rich color. I can see why you want it.
ReplyDeleteHere where the sunlight is so strong and so nearly constant, a deep rich color compensates.
DeleteI have plants in 2 pots - had a few small flowers. Must take better care of them.
ReplyDeleteRich soil, full sun, summer rain - oops.
Another glorious SA species. There are so many! The neighbor's have been in the ground for years and years--doing fine.
DeleteNo wonder you NEED this Hoover Boo .. it is the most fabulous indigo blue I have seen in a plant as well .. I haven't grown agapanthus , but if I did ? THIS would be the one .. it almost looks artificial it is so intense .. remarkable ! with companion white flowers ? perfection indeed !
ReplyDeleteThe best of luck for your mission to acquire one !!
Thank you! As we know, plants develop their flower color over the centuries to attract pollinators...I wonder which pollinator loves indigo blue as much as we do? :)
DeleteYes, these dark blue agapanthus really make July special. I've often wondered if the herbaceous/deciduous agapanthus like Sandringham are suitable for our mild winters. If an agapanthus loves the UK and PNW, I'm immediately suspicious of how it will like SoCal...
ReplyDeleteI wonder that myself, that a lack of chill is the problem. The foliage looks great though, and re-appears every spring. Read somewhere that they MUST have late summer water to bloom the following year and my 'Sandringham' I've let go dry as the foliage fades, so perhaps that is the problem. Purely a guess!!!
DeleteAs I remember the neighbor's 'Graskop' foliage half-disappears over the winter...
This is either storm cloud or mood indigo. I have graskop and the flower head is more compact the the flowers point straight down
ReplyDeleteYes I think you are right. I searched out a 'Graskop'--it took a few years to find one to buy--and am awaiting flowers. Maybe next year...I hope!
Delete