Agapanthus 'BLUE CLOUD'

African blue lily is one of the most attractive summer plants. Even though this perennial comes from South Africa where less hardy species are grown, new varieties and hybrids are bred all over the world, especially in hot climates such as south USA, Australia, and South Africa. Great Britain with much of its part in subtropical zone would have been ideal for African blue lily, too, if it wasn’t for the excess wet. Therefore, in the 40s of the 20th century Hon W J Lewis Palmer, vice-president of RHS (Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain) from Headbourne Worthy Grange in Hampshire, spent much of his time hybridizing them in order to achieve hardy varieties that could cope with English moisture, too. They were called Headbourne Hybrids, and if we do what they need we can grow them here in Central European climate, too. Numerous new hybrids were raised by other breeders ever since and they are often said to belong in this group. We know that it is not true, however, we are happy to have them since they can survive our winters.

There are quite a few African blue lily varieties with the word Cloud in its name and funnily enough, each one was bred by someone else. Storm Cloud was created by Jimmy Giridlian from the USA in 1943, Snow Cloud on the other side of the world by Vance Hooper, a famous and devoted breeder of beautiful magnolias from New Zealand, Purple Cloud is again American and comes from seeds obtained from Barrie Coate of the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation in California where they also bred Summer Clouds variety.

Blue Cloud is African blue lily variety with enchanting, sky-blue flowers which are not as dark as on other varieties. They offer a calm and soothing, pastel blue shade with lavender violet tone that combines well with other pastel-coloured perennials for dry beds, such as yarrows or gauras. The inflorescence is umbel, similar to ornamental onion, and the individual flowers are elongated funnels with several conspicuous, darker blue stripes in the throat. They open one by one atop fleshy but strong stems reaching around 60 cm. The strap-like leaves are medium green, ground, broadly lance-shaped and luckily, they are not liked by slugs. Blooming begins in late June and continues for 6 to 8 weeks, depending on the age and strength of the plant.

Grow it in fertile, very well-drained soil. In too wet or boggy soil it will most certainly die. The plant benefits from regular watering and fertilizing from spring until late summer. Though, once established it perfectly withstands drought and heat. In the Mediterranean it belongs among the top favourite summer blooming plants. In our gardens it will be a perfect flowering feature along pathways, at swimming pools, and near patios where you spend most of your relaxing time in summer.

In zone 7 all winter protection it needs is mulching. In colder areas you can double the mulch pile and cover it with a waterproof shelter to keep it from soaking with water and rotting afterwards. At the end of winter, after the danger of severe frosts, remove the waterproof cover and half of mulch, and in spring, when the temperature gets warmer, remove the rest of the mulch and cut off all leaves so that the plant can begin new growth. So far it has withstood winter temperatures down to -20 °C (USDA zone 6b).

Last update 14-07-2024