Specimens of the African lily (Agapanthus) are regularly offered in the plant trade, which are said to be able to overwinter outdoors. However, you should only believe these promises to a very limited extent.

The African lily and its needs

The African lily originally comes from South Africa and is therefore only partially frost hardy. Since this type of plant can only survive minus temperatures in the single-digit range and for short periods of time, it is usually planted as a container plant in this country. Since the root rhizome spreads to the size of the respective planter within a few years, you should divide it regularly, whereby offshoots from the tubers do not always bloom again immediately.

Overwinter the African lily properly

There are different subspecies of Agapanthus, which either overwinter with green leaves or withdraw their leaves and only start the next season with the rhizome. The ideal winter quarters for the African lily is between 0 degrees Celsius and 7 degrees Celsius. Agapanthus should be watered as little as possible or not at all in winter. While leaf-feeding African lilies can also be overwintered in the dark, evergreen specimens prefer bright winter quarters.

Conditions for wintering outdoors

Under certain conditions, you can also overwinter the African lily outdoors:

  • with only slightly below zero during the entire winter season
  • if the plants are in loose soil without the risk of waterlogging
  • with appropriate winter protection

Overwintering in the open only really promises success if you live in an extremely mild wine-growing climate. It should also be in a sheltered location with plenty of sunlight. If there is no solid snow cover before the first night frosts, you should protect the plants from the cold with a suitable fleece.

tips and tricks

Trying to hibernate the African lily outdoors in Central Europe always involves a certain risk. Therefore, you should only dare this experiment if you have enough unnecessary propagation offshoots from the divided tubers due to the strong growth of the African lily rhizome.

Category:

Vegetable garden