UK gardening - Agapanthus leaves gone purple!

Author

Agapanthus leaves gone purple!

Chris Hogg

2007-06-27, 1:25 pm

I have an evergreen agapanthus (Storm Cloud or Dark Storm, got both,
can't remember which this is), planted a couple of years ago. It is
not doing very well, and in particular, this year many of the older
leaves have gone a dark dirty purple over the last few months. It had
a little Growmore in the spring, but otherwise it's been left to its
own devices. See

http://i12.tinypic.com/5xetyix.jpg
http://i19.tinypic.com/6csbqk3.jpg

Any suggestions as to what is happening?

(the orange-yellow-green red-hot-poker-like flowers nearby are Aloe
striatula, one of the hardier aloes, which survives outside down here
in west Cornwall and which has done especially well this year after
the mild winter).

--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

La Puce

2007-06-28, 1:25 pm

On 27 Jun, 18:16, Chris Hogg <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> I have an evergreen agapanthus (Storm Cloud or Dark Storm, got both,
> can't remember which this is), planted a couple of years ago. It is
> not doing very well, and in particular, this year many of the older
> leaves have gone a dark dirty purple over the last few months. It had
> a little Growmore in the spring, but otherwise it's been left to its
> own devices. See
> http://i12.tinypic.com/5xetyix.jpgh...com/6csbqk3.jpg
> Any suggestions as to what is happening?

They are usually disease free but don't like wet conditions. Have you
had much rain lately?! Have you first noticed some black spots and
then the whole leaves turned black? If yes, it's rot.

Chris Hogg

2007-06-28, 1:25 pm

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:30:19 -0700, La Puce <helene@rudlin.co.uk>
wrote:

>On 27 Jun, 18:16, Chris Hogg <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>They are usually disease free but don't like wet conditions. Have you
>had much rain lately?! Have you first noticed some black spots and
>then the whole leaves turned black? If yes, it's rot.

No, it's not rot. Soil is well drained, and recently we've had less
rain than most. The purple leaves are quite wholesome and show no
signs of decay as such. Other agapanthus varieties that I have go
really mushy when they rot, after a frost gets them for example. These
purple leaves been developing over several months.

--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Sacha

2007-06-28, 5:25 pm

On 28/6/07 18:10, in article hgq783pkqossbbk0dnhou5bvvcj42hv4ma@4ax.com,
"Chris Hogg" <me@privacy.net> wrote:

> On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:30:19 -0700, La Puce <helene@rudlin.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>
> No, it's not rot. Soil is well drained, and recently we've had less
> rain than most. The purple leaves are quite wholesome and show no
> signs of decay as such. Other agapanthus varieties that I have go
> really mushy when they rot, after a frost gets them for example. These
> purple leaves been developing over several months.
>

Chris, I suggest you contact Bowden Hostas, one of the National Collection
Holders: http://www.bowdenhostas.com/
I asked Ray for his opinion and it's a new one on him. *Everyone* has had a
lot of rain lately, so if that were the cause, we'd hear about it from a lot
of urglers. All I can tell you is that here in the very wet but warmish SW,
our evergreen Ags are green, healthy and budding. In the meantime, could
yours have been 'caught' by some spray or other or even by a sudden cold
snap?
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)

Chris Hogg

2007-06-29, 5:25 pm

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:37:52 +0100, Sacha
<sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:

>Chris, I suggest you contact Bowden Hostas, one of the National Collection
>Holders: http://www.bowdenhostas.com/
>I asked Ray for his opinion and it's a new one on him. *Everyone* has had a
>lot of rain lately, so if that were the cause, we'd hear about it from a lot
>of urglers. All I can tell you is that here in the very wet but warmish SW,
>our evergreen Ags are green, healthy and budding. In the meantime, could
>yours have been 'caught' by some spray or other or even by a sudden cold
>snap?

Thanks for the thoughts, but I don't think it's spray, although a cold
snap in the early spring is a possibility. Like yours, my other ags
are all healthy and budding up, although there are lots in flower in
west Cornwall, but not yet in my garden.

My own thinking is towards something in the soil. When I was creating
flowerbeds out of the large expanse of poor quality lawn, it was
apparent that in the distant past, a previous owner had used some
places for burning general rubbish: digging the soil would bring up
black ash, burnt earth, bits of old torch batteries and fine copper
wire (one previous owner was a GPO engineer). It wouldn't surprise me
if my agapanthus is sitting on one of these and has got its roots down
into some contaminated soil. I'll see how it progresses, and if it
doesn't improve, I'll try moving it, washing the roots at the same
time.

--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Sacha

2007-06-29, 5:25 pm

On 29/6/07 20:50, in article bcma83ti86mdn7m354lcmq16br7m2dpkq0@4ax.com,
"Chris Hogg" <me@privacy.net> wrote:

> On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:37:52 +0100, Sacha
> <sacha@gardenweeds506.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
> Thanks for the thoughts, but I don't think it's spray, although a cold
> snap in the early spring is a possibility. Like yours, my other ags
> are all healthy and budding up, although there are lots in flower in
> west Cornwall, but not yet in my garden.
>
<snip>

And apart from the fact that I was, for various reasons, thinking also of
Hostas, heaven alone knows why I suggested you contact the Hosta Collection
holder about your ags! Talk about scatty! I do apologise.
The ag NC holder I was thinking of is: http://www.pcplants.co.uk/

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
(remove weeds from address)

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