“Don’t use agapanthus!”, some clients say. “It’s too ordinary, out of fashion. It’s something they plant in gas stations everywhere in California!”.
Like a painting, a color’s appeal often depends as much on the color itself as in what it’s next to. It’s the same thing with agapanthus, and many other plants. The goal is to create something like a painting, where you have contrasts in value, form, texture and color. Painting is a lot simpler, however. Paintings don’t move, their colors don’t die or take over, and they don’t get invaded by weeds.
There’s a reason lily of the Nile is so popular. It has blue (or white) flowers in summer, visually cooling things down a bit. It comes in many sizes and shades of blue. Newer varieties even have variegated leaves, although the plant we tried was a lot more temperamental than its green-leaved cousins.
The trouble with agapanthus is that it’s usually planted in mass, isolated, with perhaps only a bit of raphiolepis to keep it company.
Once it’s mixed in with some friends, things work much better. In the photo, orange day lilies add an orange-blue complimentary contrast. The Mexican feather grass adds a fine texture to counterbalance the bold leaves and spherical flower clusters of the agapanthus and brings a bit of separation between the points of color.
The background matters, too. The plants are in sun, but the area behind lies in deep shade, creating a strong value contrast and making the colors of the flowers appear more intense.
Other good combinations are: gaura, Karl Foerster grass (Calamagrostis) and non-invasive fountain grass (Pennisetum).
Things work best if the flowers are held at similar heights. For example, a tall Agapanthus ‘Storm Cloud’ would work well with Karl Foerster grass and white gaura.
A dwarf blue agapanthus (Baby Pete or Peter Pan) would work well with fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides), and could be combined with yellow yarrow for a color contrast.
The day lily leaves look a bit frazzled. It’s been over 108° F (42° C) and they would have to practically be sitting in water to stay deep green. That’s just another reason to mix in the grass, to disguise the yellow leaves of the day lilies.
The Mexican feather grass and gaura can reseed everywhere. If you’re in or near a sensitive environment where they can escape the garden and become pests, choose substitutes that work better with the environment. Depending on your climate, there are a lot of choices – especially if you’re in a cooler summer area than Sacramento.