The Agapanthus is a purely South African plant and was first cultivated in England in about 1692, with plants taken from the Cape. Today you will probably find them in gardens all around the world.
According to the book, Wild Flowers of the Eastern Cape Province, the roots are sought after by African herbalists. Traditionally a Xhosa bride will wear the roots around her neck, as it is believed that they will provide many children and make childbirth easy. Young mothers and children also wear necklaces of the roots to find find health and happiness. The roots are also ground up and used as medicine.
45 comments:
Max-e this is really nice photo of the flower, I did not realized that it is a good size, the first photo was deceiving. Thanks for sharing this useful information. Anna :)
Does it really grow that tall or is it the way you took the photo? I love the color!
The first pic is lovely.
It's a pity ours have almost stopped flowering now. I love the blue flowers in my garden.
I want to plant some of these in our garden now that we are in our new home. They add such a lovely splash of color. I didn't know that they originated in South Africa. Thanks for the info.
Amazing photos! My mom told me she used to have this plant in CA where she grew up as a kid.
--JB
Hi Dot, it is the angle of the photo. They are usually about 500 cm to 1 metre high.
Hello Max.. a great 'A' post and a stunner of a picture...
Absolutely beautiful! and I love learning about new to me plants.
I have never heard of this flower...It is very beautiful!
Such great photos of a beautiful flower. I hope mine flower this year :o)
Rx
Wow! What a wonderful shade of blue. I have been told my colour is blue!
Beautiful A! :)
A lovely plant with nice colours. I love blue! :)
First visit to your blog. Will return.
Beautiful photos
Hey Max, hope this finds you well.
I didn't know my backyard plant was south african born. Unfortunately this years crop of glorious purple white and black aggies was killed in their prime, seems my dog loves snapping the stems just as they flower.
Great pictures and very interesting information.
I have some in my garden, but they are much smaller. Very loveable however.
beautiful picture of a beautiful flower - and more interesting knowledge!
Wonderful upclose photo.
nice blogspot you have! cool photos and stuff. Why not join some photography talk? @ http://www.djingen.blogspot.com/
Agapanthus is exquisite, I had never seen or heard of it before .. I am loving this ABC Weds. not only do I get to interact with a lot of neat people and see a lot of wonderful photos but I am learning all sorts of new things!
How nice that Agapanthus grow wild where you are. They're not supposed to be hardy where I live (central Canada) but a friend has actually gotten a couple of them to over winter in her garden. Amazing.
South Africa is such a beautiful country. Very different from Canada, eh?
Lovely pics of a beautiful flower. I've tried so hard to grow them, but failed miserably!
Hi max, I love your flower shots. We have to haul these indoors during the winter but they are a lovely flower and the extra work is worth it. We have pink and white versions also. They are easy to grow and very rewarding. I have an African plant today, too.
I love Agapanthus and have finally got one to flower in my garden here in the UK. I know they're a SA flower, but I'll always associate them with our holiday in Australia in 2003 - they were everywhere!
My favorite flower! :) We have a group planted in our front yard flower bed by our porch, and there are large numbers of them near the office where I work in many different colors. Before I learned their proper name we just called them Alien Flowers because they look almost like they came from outer space in a Sci-Fi movie. :)
What a gorgeous shade of purple!
wounderfull flower
Beautiful flower, and that first picture is incredible!
What a wonderful Agaphantus photos!
Principally the first one. I had some in my garden, but they did not survive.
About your comment on my blog, I agree with you some landscapes in my region looks so much like parts of South Africa. I’ve never been to Africa but I saw many movies and photos of South Africa. I love so much your country. If you have time, take a look on this post and see how this landscape looks Africa's savannah (cerrado in Portuguese). Click to see the post LANDSCAPE.
I came back to say that your banner/header with those elephants is AMAZING! WONDERFUL! Well done!
Great shots, love medicinal plants
That's a classic shot, Max, one of the best I've seen on your blog.
Agapanthus is very common here in Aus - and it's in full bloom here. As you know so well, it's mid-summer here.
Love the color, very different flower, nice image.
Beautiful photos.
Beautiful!
Agapanthus grow in my garden(I live in France, in Normandy)and there are lots of these flowers at Jersey .
Miss Yves
Beautiful flower. i 've seen something like that in india.On my blog i have posted photos of my rose garden
That is a beautiful color. I do not think I have ever seen this flower before.
In my country the Agaphantus is in a lot of courtyards, flowerpots, parks, and balconies.
He exists in various colours, roz, blue, white and nuances of red.
Very good the first photograph.
what beautiful flowers. I love tall things, long legs. That's what I think of with these. Lovely.
Some nice views.
The photos are beautiful!
I am so glad to have joined ABC Wednesday this week and to stop by here to visit. It is a wonderful tour around the world, and your part of the world is one I have not had the pleasure to visit. Now I can visit frequently through your beautiful p[hotos.
My A is also a floral offering. Stop by to see.
Those are beautiful photos and the first one is really lovely…lovely flower and its color,and the story that goes with it is nice and very interesting. I like it!
I'm late getting 'round to visit but this is a FANTASTIC A post! Oh, I do love the color of the flower!
Absolutely Beautiful!
We had purple and white agapanthus' planted at our last house. They are lovely, structured plants but I had no idea of their history. As has already been said they are a common sight in Australian gardens but now you have made them seem exotic again. I always learn so much when I visit here.
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