Giving agapanthus some attention and cannas some care
There seemed to be a lot of false dawns heralding the arrival of spring this year – often one bountiful day of sunshine, just enough to raise our foolish spirits, followed by several more of torrential rain, gales and grey murk.
While this was extremely tiresome at the time, it did make her arrival all the sweeter and one thing I did notice when we finally had a run of dry sunny days that allowed us to do something worthwhile in the garden, was that plants were a couple of weeks behind where they usually are at that point in the year.
While this isn’t ideal for an impatient type like me it has, however, given us a few extra days to get things done in the garden, and one of the most pressing tasks that had been niggling me was sorting out our agapanthus and canna plants, which is what I’m focussing on this issue.
Our potted deciduous agapanthus didn’t do brilliantly last year so I wanted to re-pot them in better compost, while those in the border had become bedevilled by weeds and couch grass as the winter progressed.
Our potted canna did well last year but had outgrown its container so needed more space. However, as the ancient saying goes, ‘there’s many a slip…’ and so it proved when I managed to drop and smash its pot while trying to extricate the poor plant.
Luckily this cloud had a silver lining and although I’d lost a gorgeous pot, it made it easier to divide the canna into three, increasing my plant stock. I also potted up a little rooted offshoot that was hanging off the main plant like a wobbly tooth.
As well as giving the potted plants more space and fresh compost to give them some oomph this summer, re-potting also lets gardeners see that the roots are healthy and make sure there are no pests or diseases lurking out of sight.
I only had one nightmare scenario when instead of healthy potted lily bulbs, I found empty compost and a squirming mass of vine weevil grubs. Words were exchanged, and the grubs were added to the bird table!
A new container for two potted agapanthus
1. Carefully take your plant from its pot, scrape away some of the old compost to check the roots are healthy.
2. Add crocks, fresh compost and fertiliser to the new container and settle your plant, leaving room for more compost and watering.
3. Infill over and around the roots with more compost, firming it down but making sure the crown stays clear.
4. Make sure the container is raised up on feet, then water generously to settle and hydrate the compost.
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