Blue Storm Lily-of-the-Nile

Virtues: Long bloom time, sending up several flushes of multiple flowering stalks that bloom for six weeks. Architectural, tidy form. Eye-catching, easy-to-combine flower color of light violet-blue. Effective in ground or potted. Adaptable to various soil types and moisture levels. Can be overwintered easily where not hardy. Appropriate for fire-prone areas, as its thick leaves resist fire.

Common name: Blue Storm Lily-of-the-Nile

Botanical name:Agapanthus praecox orientalis nana alba Blue Storm

Flower: Light violet-blue 4-inch-wide flower clusters appear on top of straight, tall stalks in late spring and early summer. Second and third flushes of sparser bloom occur later in the season. A mature plant (5 years old) can have 100 flower stalks in its main flush of bloom, all open at once.

Foliage: Strappy green leaves to 14 inches long and 1 inch wide.

Habit: Grows to 30 inches tall and 20 inches wide, in a dense tuft of foliage.

Season: Late spring and summer, into fall.

Origin: Introduced by Anthony Tesselaar. First occurred as a sport (natural mutation) of Tesselaar's Snow Storm agapanthus, a white-flowered variety.

Cultivation: Grow in any soil, in full sun or partial shade. Heaviest flowering occurs in full sun. Requires regular watering in its first year, but tolerates drought very well once it is established. Also tolerates wet conditions. Happy in a container. USDA Zones 8–11. Elsewhere, it can be dug up and stored inside for the winter, or if in a pot simply moved indoors. Store in a cool but frost-free location.

Image courtesy of Tesselaar Plants