Agapanthus seed

 Hello there everyone,

 It's been a while since I posted to the group, but I am still out there.
 I'm just a bit bust at the moment...

 On the subject of Agapanthus, I have been growing some of the more unusual
 varieties from seed at the moment, as it happens. The seeds were of
 A.coddi, A.inapertus ssp. hollandi and A.caulescens ssp. angustifolia, and
 all are growing well. I sowed the seed in early summer in large pots, and
 left it to its own devices. most of it seemed to germinate pretty quickly
 and I have now potted on most of them. The only exception to this was a
 potful of A.inapertus ssp. hollandi 'Sky Blue form', none of which came
 up. Still, you can't win them all!

 My intention is to keep them growing over the winter, so I've brought
 about half of them indoors (the remainder have had to take their chances
 in the cold frame). We have had some reasonably hard frosts now, and there
 do seem to be definite differences in hardines between A.inapertus and
 A.coddi (all of the caulescens are indoors). The A.coddi are still quite
 green and look ok, though of course they aren't growing much. In contrast,
 the A.inapertus have been completely cut back, though of course they may
 well come again next spring. Many Agapanthus are deciduous in Britain.

 As for Romneya, my third attempt at growing it appears to be successful
 thus far. It isn't growing very much, but it hasn't died back and
 certainly looks much better than any of the previous specimens I have.
 It's quite close to a Ceanothus thrysiflorus 'Repens', so there will be a
 definite Californian feel once it is established. For the moment there
 isn't much to say about the garden: the Cyclamen are all but over (apart
 from an errant C.coum which is flowering well) and the main interest is
 provided by the shapes of the trees and shrubs, the bones of the garden.
 Lots of perennials are in 'winter mode', forming tight little
 ground-hugging rosettes waiting for spring. In general I am keeping my
 fingers crossed for the more tender plants around the place.

 Some other hardiness bulletins that people might be interested in:-

 Amaryllis belladonna: hardy, but doesn't seem to get enough heat to
 stimulate flowering, even against a wall.

 Tulbaghia violacea: hardy, but gets cut back by any hard frost, whereupon
 the foliage emits a strong smell of garlic! T.natalensis seems to be about
 the same.

 Dierama cupuliflora (a present from a friend, who didn't think it would
 survive): hardy so far.... this is it's first winter outdoors but it is
 doing well at the moment. All Dieramas I have tried outdoors seem to be
 hardy, and I think they rather enjoy our damp climate.

 Watsonia borbonica: on the edge of its hardiness here, but seems ok with
 protection for the roots and given a sheltered spot. The same goes for
 Kniphofia thomsonii v. snowdenii.

 Leonotis leonurus: the foliage has been cut back but I have given the base
 some protection. I shan't be able to tell if it has made it or not until
 next spring.

 Eryngium yuccifolium and E.proteiflorum: both seem to be frost-hardy, but
 neither is appreciating the winter wet. Hopefully they will be ok

 Geranium palmatum: seems quite hardy. However, its relative, G.canariense
 is quite sensitive to hard frost. Fortunately G.palmatum is a far superior
 garden plant. I have never tried the fabled G.maderense.



 Tristan Hatton-Ellis (SW England, about USDA zone 8 or 9, but much wetter!)
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