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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

Arizona Mountains forests

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

Central Tallgrass prairie

Central-Southern Cascades Forests

Chilean Matorral

Colorado Rockies forests

A bold, clump-forming evergreen perennial from South Africa, grown for big rounded umbels of trumpet-shaped blue (or white) flowers held on tall bare stalks above arching, strap-shaped leaves in mid-to-late summer. It is widely sold as "lily of the Nile," but that is a misnomer - the plant is South African (the Cape provinces and KwaZulu-Natal), not from the Nile. Spectacular and easy in warm climates, this evergreen Agapanthus is frost-tender, so in cold-winter areas it is grown in a container and overwintered under cover. The RHS has given several Agapanthus praecox forms its Award of Garden Merit and rates this evergreen species half-hardy (H3 - needs winter protection).

What it needs

Conditions

Light

Part shade

Water

Consistent moisture

Spacing

18"

Habit

Clump-forming, rhizomatous herbaceous perennial with a mound of glossy, doubly compound leaves and upright, branched flower plumes held above them

Care tips

•

Choose a spot where the soil never dries out, such as a pond edge, a low damp bed or ground the RHS would call boggy; the RHS rates it drought intolerant.

•

Give it part to full shade, and full shade where summers are hot; the RHS warns that hot sun can damage it.

•

Cut the flowers for a vase, or leave the faded flower stems standing for winter interest, as the RHS suggests.

Lifecycle

Planting

Plant in part to full shade in rich, evenly moist, well-drained soil, as NC State Extension and the Missouri Botanical Garden advise; the RHS adds that boggy soil and waterside planting suit it, and that clay or loam both do. Both US sources say it takes more sun only where summers are cool. Space plants about 18 inches apart, the low end of the 18 to 30 inches spread NC State and the Missouri Botanical Garden give.

Transplanting

The RHS divides it in winter or early spring and says to replant the pieces at once, or pot them up and plant them out in spring once they have re-established.

Early growth

Keep the soil moist from the start. The RHS calls it drought intolerant and warns that hot sun can damage it, so a young clump in dry soil or in an exposed, sunny spot is the most likely to fail. It does best in a sheltered spot facing north, east or west, per the RHS.

Maturity

NC State Extension and the Missouri Botanical Garden give 18 to 30 inches tall and wide, with leaves to 6 inches long and flower clusters 4 to 8 inches long. The RHS gives up to 31 inches tall, plumes up to 8 inches long, and a spread of 1.6 to 3.3 feet. The Missouri Botanical Garden and NC State report no significant pest or disease problems and say deer and rabbits tend to avoid it; the RHS calls it generally pest-free but notes leaf spot and powdery mildews.

Propagation

Division is the usual route: the RHS divides it in winter or early spring, and NC State Extension lists division, seed and stem cuttings.

Similar plants

Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.

Agapanthus praecox

African lily

Anise-scented sage is a tall, upright perennial in the mint family (Lamiaceae), native to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder describe a bushy, square-stemmed plant 2 to 5 feet tall and wide that carries spikes of deep blue, two-lipped flowers with purple-blue calyxes from July into fall; NC State calls it a reliable nectar source for hummingbirds and butterflies, and notes that carpenter bees rob its nectar by biting a hole in the floral tube. The 'anise-scented' name is only partly earned: Wikipedia describes 'an anise scent when crushed,' but Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder says the bruised foliage has a very mild aroma with 'very little if any anise scent.' It spreads by tuberous roots that let it reproduce vegetatively (NC State Extension), so it fills a space rather than staying in a tidy clump. It is winter hardy only to about USDA zone 8a: farther north, grow it as an annual or overwinter cuttings indoors, though NC State notes the 'Black and Blue' cultivar is hardier and will survive milder zone 7 winters if well mulched. Neither NC State nor Missouri Botanical Garden documents an edible use or a toxicity hazard. NC State records, as ethnobotanical history, that the Guarani people of Brazil used it as a sedative; that is not a recommendation to take it, so treat it as a non-food ornamental. It has also naturalized outside South America (Wikipedia records it in New Zealand and Chile), so where winters are mild enough for it to persist outdoors, check your local weed or invasive-plant list before planting it.

Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'

Autumn-joy stonecrop

A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3 to 6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 24 inches. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.

The classic clove-scented carnation, a short-lived evergreen perennial in the pink family grown for centuries for its frilled, spice-fragrant double flowers and tidy mounds of narrow blue-gray foliage. Native to the Mediterranean region, it thrives in full sun and lean, sharply drained, neutral-to-alkaline soil with steady but never soggy moisture, and is hardy in USDA zones 6a-9b. It is the florist's carnation and the parent of countless border and perpetual-flowering strains, prized as much for cutting as for the garden.

Dianthus caryophyllus

Carnation

A tuberous-rooted member of the aster family native to Mexico and Central America, grown for showy summer-to-fall blooms in nearly every color except blue. Hybrids in commerce span ten flower-form groups (single, anemone, collarette, waterlily, decorative, fall, pompon, cactus, semi-cactus, and miscellaneous) and range from 1 to 6 feet tall. Winter-hardy only to USDA Zones 7-10; in colder regions the tubers are lifted in fall and stored frost-free, so most North American gardeners grow it as a summer annual.

Chrysanthemum x morifolium

Garden mum

The classic fall-flowering "garden mum" - a compact, clump-forming herbaceous perennial in the daisy family, grown for a prolific late-season flush of showy flowers from September to frost in shades of white, yellow, orange, bronze, purple, and red. A complex hybrid of five Chinese species, not native to North America; widely sold as a one-season annual but hardy in the ground roughly zones 5-9. Deer- and rabbit-resistant, and a welcome late-season nectar source when little else is blooming.