Diarmuid Gavin: Keep your garden in bloom with joyful Agapanthus
These structured plants provide a long-lasting explosion of colour when others stop flowering
Coronation Garden in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim. Picture: Diarmuid Gavin
Visitors to the new Coronation Garden in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, tend to be overwhelmed by the experience of dancing plants, Morecambe and Wise singing and now a native Irish wildflower meadow. But they also come away scratching their heads at one aspect… a little mystery that hangs in the air.
Among the planting are small signs saying, “Beware of the Agapanthus. If attacked, back away slowly.” This instils a hint of trepidation, a whisper goes through the crowds — and children are on the lookout for mystical marauding creatures who it’s hinted may do some crocodile-like damage. For me, it’s all part of the show, another element of whimsy which is a side effect of ensuring that no little ones delve through the undergrowth and trample the plants. And it raised an eyebrow and then a smile from the British monarch on his recent visit.
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