Picking our own Agapanthus seeds and sowing them in winter

There is a link to the follow up video below - there was some success but also some challenges!
Agapanthus are popular because of their big clusters of rich blue flowers and their architectural strappy leaves - they bring an exotic 'tropical' look to gardens.
In this video Roger is back up in the school garden, where the pot grown Agapanthus have a good crop of their shiny black seeds bursting out of the dead flowers.
So, for the first time, Roger is trying to grow some new baby Agapanthus from these freshly collected seeds - they look a bit like tadpoles to Rog ... lets hope they transform into fresh young seedlings by spring ...
There is something inspiring and up-lifting about doing this in the 'bleak midwinter' it gets us thinking about spring and summer as we look forward to a new season.
Roger sows the seeds into well drained compost (he adds some sand to his multipurpose compost to help improve the drainage) and gently mixes the seed into the top layer of the compost so that the seeds are only just below the surface and then very lightly sprinkles a thin layer of sand over the surface.
The compost needs to be just slightly moist (not soaking wet) for a couple of months, we are using a greenhouse which can get quite cold but should keep off the worst of the frost. If you do not have a greenhouse you could use a fairly bright window-sill.
Here is a link to the follow up video - there was some success but also some challenges!
• The ups and downs of g...

[@peterrobinson8588]

Here on the Suffolk coast the ‘evergreen’ ones that I have in pots have self seeded in the cracks of my scruffy patio. We had some frost , one night down to -8C, and a fair bit of rain but they have never sat in water. I have potted some up ....but suspect it will be a few years before big enough to flower.

[@rogthegardener1]

Thanks Peter, that's interesting yes I can imagine them thriving over there with your drier climate, apparently they can flower with 2 - 3 years .... which is quicker than I would imagine ... we shall see ...

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi - just to let you know that I have just put a picture of the seedlings on my community section on my CZcams channel

[@msbettymb]

Update on the agapanthus seeds? Did I miss it? Following from South Carolina, USA for your information as well as your accent!

[@rogthegardener1]

Thanks😀👍, there were germinating last time I was in the school garden (2 weeks ago) due back in tomorrow, so will probably put a picture on the community area of my CZcams channel - and then do a video in a few weeks time (complete with accent!) when they are ready to transplant.

[@selfmademanicure5662]

I want to know as well!

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, thanks for your comment, the young seedlings have been transplanted into pots and are growing more leaves, but a few have been eaten by slugs. I will put a picture or video update on the channel soon 😊👍

[@rogthegardener1]

Actually, I just checked … I did put a picture of the seedlings starting to grow on my community tab on my CZcams channel, you can see that if you scroll down on the community tab … but I still want to do another update as they have grown a bit since then 🌱

[@lyonheart84]

Lol they self seed all over the place in my garden Roger 🤪🤪

[@rogthegardener1]

😀👍

[@capitalme5559]

Please let me know the result of plant agapanthus when the start showing in March please!

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, thanks for your comment - we just uploaded an update a few days ago - here is the video czcams.com/video/tCfxNny29cE/video.html

[@stevenvitali7404]

I have agapanthus African Queen, it produced 9 flowering stalks this year and now the flowers are fading I see loads of pods and wondered if you could grow them easy

[@rogthegardener1]

I don’t see why not … only one way to find out?!😊.
We here are you living? … if you are in the uk you may need to wait a few months until you can see the seeds ‘bursting’ out of the pods …

[@vince581]

Did it work?

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi thanks for your comment
Yes it did - here is the follow up video czcams.com/video/tCfxNny29cE/video.html

[@user-vy6fk3rh6z]

I cut the pods when they were still green and closed. Do you think it will work? I let them dry out and now starting to open them myself to get the seeds out. Very flaky. Is that normal?

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, thanks for your comment, the seeds were quite thin and papery…they may have needed a bit longer to fully ripen… but I would definitely try sowing some and see what happens?

[@user-nx1nu1dg4g]

How long did they take to germinate

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, thanks for getting in touch, there is a link below to our 'follow up video' .. in short we started seeing seedlings appearing in early spring ... so about 3 months after sowing the seeds .. but then we had a few challenges! as explained in this video czcams.com/video/tCfxNny29cE/video.html

[@timothycrowley5065]

Hi i'm in the emerald isle i stole seed pods from a neighbour didn't know what to do with them put them in ordinary seed and potting onto a propagator and 3 managed to survive out of probably 6 seeds

[@rogthegardener1]

Hey - well done you! We have had about 30 seedlings I think, and have transplanted them into individual pots ... great to see them growing eh?

[@timothycrowley5065]

@@rogthegardener1 do agapanthus normally grow from bulbs or are they a different species ?

[@rogthegardener1]

@@timothycrowley5065 They are often sold in bulb catalogues or bulb departments but they are not strictly bulbs ... more accurately roots with a dormant growth bud ... I think!

[@rml3wood]

A tripod and two hands would do the trick.

[@rogthegardener1]

Thanks 😊