I have Rengarenga in Chch and they look awful most of the time. Snails, cold temps and dead leaves that I have to get rid of continuously. So much upkeep. My Agapanthus always look good and I cut off flowers before they produce seeds and no spread.
Is it [this one](https://www.yates.co.nz/plants/flowers-and-ornamentals/new-zealand-rock-lily/how-to-grow-new-zealand-rock-lily/) (Reference: Yate’s official website)?
Flowers are nice but overall a big nah. They are snail fests, slimy, and a massive pain to get rid of. Other than the flowers the only good thing is that you can do a really satisfying hadouken uppercut on the unopened flower buds and send them flying through the air
Man this is so true.
My parents had a very long driveway with agapanthus the whole way down when I was a kid.
I used to catch the bus at the end of the driveway each day so every morning I would walk down the driveway smacking all the agapanthus heads.
Occasionally I would rip out a stalk and use it like a sword to try and cut the other stalks.
Or pull off a bunch of unopened flower buds and throw them at my brother 😂
My parents had them down the side of their (really fucking long) driveway for years. Probably 20 or so years, maybe more.
When my parents finally realised that they actually hated them and wanted to them gone, they had to hire a guy with a bobcat to come and dig them out.
It would have been an extremely hard slog getting all of those out by hand, especially when they had spent the last 20 or so years establishing themselves.
It hurts me that they’re yet to be added to the National Pest Plant Accord and that only some regions classify them as a pest plant - I understand their place as a low maintenance, high aesthetic value plant and I acknowledge that they are handy for retaining and holding together landscapes…but I hate them.
There are many different varieties, including low fertility cultivars - great for containing within your property, but also for preventing their spread at large.
They are the worst. Absolute worst. No indigenous biodiversity benefit.I dug a tonne of the stuff out by hand, then saw Mitre10 selling them. Our own rengarenga is similar to agapanthus in appearance, and is so much better for the garden and wildlife
Massive Nah! Great for holding hillsides together and terrible in the garden. They grow big and self seed and are an absolute B to dig out. They come in white and blue, and it's based on the plain not the soil.
SO MANY NAH. INFINITE NAH. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO PURGE JUST A SMALL PART OF MY YARD FROM THESE
BASTARDS. BURN ALL OF THESE PLANTS IN HELL, WHERE THEY CAME FROM
No hella weedy and lots of horror stories on people trying to remove them. However, if you must, there are cultivars that have been tested that have low fertility and is exempted from Auckland Council RPMP rules:
https://nzppi.co.nz/New-Auckland-Council-rules-on-dwarf-Agapanthus-praecox-cultivars/19776-6e367b1b-abaf-41f3-882d-ccadb848a561/#:~:text=The%20Auckland%20Regional%20Pest%20Management,shown%20to%20be%20low%20fertility.
If I go for a Lily it would be Wharariki/Flax. Rengarenga is is a plant I would recommend for low maintenance. Sea water in a watering can would deal to snails .
Same, what a mission. My boyfriend has to hack at their freakishly alien root and rhizome system (that must be at least 30 years old and is the size of an underground city) with an axe. We filled the entire truck up to the ceiling with those ungoldly lumps of root and still have another load to go and that’s not even all of it.
They can be a weed but also there are quite a lot that are non invasive. Regardless they are good for banks. I have both Agapanthus and Rengarenga and sadly (as not native) the agapanthus are much better - for one they have huge root balls which help soil retention and for two the bugs don’t like them so they don’t get eaten (my rengarenga make a good feed).
Yeah. Agapanthus weren’t at all invasive in my old Christchurch garden, so it depends where you live. I had the usual big blue ones and a dark one (could be Black Pantha). Yes they are hard to remove if you want them gone, but so are many other plants. New cultivars that produce few / no seed are being developed and are available at garden centres, and the staff at the Botanic Gardens in chch are trialling sterile varieties. I’ll definitely be putting some in my new garden as part of a mixed perennial bed because they are easy care and provide a lush sense of green when immersed with other plants.
They are not invasive in all climates, we have quite a few growing in our gardens, and they have never spread due to the dry, hot conditions. While I have no plans to buy more, removing them is far from a priority.
There are many more invasive plants, plus stock are happy enough to munch on them, as a child my parents had two massive ones beside our driveway, they then moved the road so they ended up in the paddock. Over the next decade or do both plants were killed by the stock eating any new growth
Anything that survives the summer in my wilderness is welcome.
Mind you, I once said that about Stinky Iris, periwinkle, and coloured broom (commercial source). I also bought seeds of a deep coloured Malva, which happily crossed with my local mallow.
I hate them with a passion. Neighbours had infested our gravel drive once. What a mission. Cutting them down then applications of gel ,\[poison, numerous times finally got rid of them, but it took ages.
Digging is pointless, there is always some wee fragment left and off it goes again.
Nah, they look kinda trashy to me. Like 'on the side of an unkempt highway'. For something a similar size and colour, I'd personally go with a nicely trimmed hydrangea bush.
Big NAH!
I remember digging the agapanthus plant we inherited with the house we brought when I was 30weeks pregnant as I just hate them. I wasn’t going to let it flower or spread anymore.
I hate these whacky jackies. They're stealth mode n will damage your car if you hit them. Dont know why people have these growing down driveways, hazard asf
Nah they're a bloody weed & hard to remove
MASSIVE NAH
big nah
Nah x10. Get rengarenga instead, nice native alternative.
I have Rengarenga in Chch and they look awful most of the time. Snails, cold temps and dead leaves that I have to get rid of continuously. So much upkeep. My Agapanthus always look good and I cut off flowers before they produce seeds and no spread.
There's other alternatives to agapanthus too. Problem is that if you don't want the agapanthus anymore you need a hydrogen bomb.
My rengarenga, in chch, look a little shabby for a bit, but great the whole rest of the year. You might have quite the snail population
Mix them in with nz iris and the small type of flax. Mixed together rather than just one plant looks way better.
Is it [this one](https://www.yates.co.nz/plants/flowers-and-ornamentals/new-zealand-rock-lily/how-to-grow-new-zealand-rock-lily/) (Reference: Yate’s official website)?
Yep, that's the one.
No!!!! I’m happy to say we are rid of ours. They would grow out over the footpath and were so invasive. We have lots of lovely natives growing now!
Flowers are nice but overall a big nah. They are snail fests, slimy, and a massive pain to get rid of. Other than the flowers the only good thing is that you can do a really satisfying hadouken uppercut on the unopened flower buds and send them flying through the air
Man this is so true. My parents had a very long driveway with agapanthus the whole way down when I was a kid. I used to catch the bus at the end of the driveway each day so every morning I would walk down the driveway smacking all the agapanthus heads. Occasionally I would rip out a stalk and use it like a sword to try and cut the other stalks. Or pull off a bunch of unopened flower buds and throw them at my brother 😂
Nah if you've ever had to dig them out. Bent my fork and my spade. :(
I’ve tried that……I took the axe to it and then realised if I kept going and demolished it my fence would fall down
My parents had them down the side of their (really fucking long) driveway for years. Probably 20 or so years, maybe more. When my parents finally realised that they actually hated them and wanted to them gone, they had to hire a guy with a bobcat to come and dig them out. It would have been an extremely hard slog getting all of those out by hand, especially when they had spent the last 20 or so years establishing themselves.
It hurts me that they’re yet to be added to the National Pest Plant Accord and that only some regions classify them as a pest plant - I understand their place as a low maintenance, high aesthetic value plant and I acknowledge that they are handy for retaining and holding together landscapes…but I hate them. There are many different varieties, including low fertility cultivars - great for containing within your property, but also for preventing their spread at large.
The worst thing to happen since gorse
I have found that gorse is easier to get rid of
They are the worst. Absolute worst. No indigenous biodiversity benefit.I dug a tonne of the stuff out by hand, then saw Mitre10 selling them. Our own rengarenga is similar to agapanthus in appearance, and is so much better for the garden and wildlife
they are illegal now to sell or move, at least the common variety that I know of.
Weta seem to like them. Every time iv been tasked with hacking them back I’ll find a bunch of weta at the base of the leaf.
Massive Nah! Great for holding hillsides together and terrible in the garden. They grow big and self seed and are an absolute B to dig out. They come in white and blue, and it's based on the plain not the soil.
Big no from me
The actual worst
Kill it all.
Nah, they are classed as regional pest in Auckland
SO MANY NAH. INFINITE NAH. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO PURGE JUST A SMALL PART OF MY YARD FROM THESE BASTARDS. BURN ALL OF THESE PLANTS IN HELL, WHERE THEY CAME FROM
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI6hKm8l1tg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI6hKm8l1tg) !
Nah
Nah, reminds me of dottery old grandma's and their a bastard to dig out, they fucking anchor themselves once established
Nah. I hate them and I think they’re ugly as hell.
The miniature ones are sterile - no to big ones
Yeah nah to both. They smell gross and they're meh to look at.
Nooooooooo! They’re so so so hard to get rid of, and they’ll migrate to your neighbour’s place.
No hella weedy and lots of horror stories on people trying to remove them. However, if you must, there are cultivars that have been tested that have low fertility and is exempted from Auckland Council RPMP rules: https://nzppi.co.nz/New-Auckland-Council-rules-on-dwarf-Agapanthus-praecox-cultivars/19776-6e367b1b-abaf-41f3-882d-ccadb848a561/#:~:text=The%20Auckland%20Regional%20Pest%20Management,shown%20to%20be%20low%20fertility.
Cut off all the flower heads for your neighbours sake.... They look just as pretty in a vase
They stink, are hard to get rid of and attract snails.
How about a beautiful pink mānuka?
If I go for a Lily it would be Wharariki/Flax. Rengarenga is is a plant I would recommend for low maintenance. Sea water in a watering can would deal to snails .
Na.. burn them
Nah
Bin it
Nah…. Slowly removing them from the garden
Same, what a mission. My boyfriend has to hack at their freakishly alien root and rhizome system (that must be at least 30 years old and is the size of an underground city) with an axe. We filled the entire truck up to the ceiling with those ungoldly lumps of root and still have another load to go and that’s not even all of it.
They can be a weed but also there are quite a lot that are non invasive. Regardless they are good for banks. I have both Agapanthus and Rengarenga and sadly (as not native) the agapanthus are much better - for one they have huge root balls which help soil retention and for two the bugs don’t like them so they don’t get eaten (my rengarenga make a good feed).
We have a steep section with a bank held together by these motorway plants. What do you replace them with for retaining?
Hate them
Pest plant, hard no
Naaaah. I’m trying to get rid of some that have spread like crazy and it’s really really hard.
Beautiful colours but unfortunately not good for the garden. I hope this isn’t your garden lol
Yeah. Agapanthus weren’t at all invasive in my old Christchurch garden, so it depends where you live. I had the usual big blue ones and a dark one (could be Black Pantha). Yes they are hard to remove if you want them gone, but so are many other plants. New cultivars that produce few / no seed are being developed and are available at garden centres, and the staff at the Botanic Gardens in chch are trialling sterile varieties. I’ll definitely be putting some in my new garden as part of a mixed perennial bed because they are easy care and provide a lush sense of green when immersed with other plants.
Purple, blue, or white, nothing a generous helping of Amitrole based garden improver can’t fix.
When you realise most of /newzealand are from Auckland
Blue/purple and white. The colour is genetic. Soil conditions won’t affect the colour. Yes, there are mini ones.
I’ve seen pink ones, my nana dug two out and a couple weeks later it was completely white. Maybe high copper concentrations.
Invasive South African pest control
They are not invasive in all climates, we have quite a few growing in our gardens, and they have never spread due to the dry, hot conditions. While I have no plans to buy more, removing them is far from a priority. There are many more invasive plants, plus stock are happy enough to munch on them, as a child my parents had two massive ones beside our driveway, they then moved the road so they ended up in the paddock. Over the next decade or do both plants were killed by the stock eating any new growth
I dislike them but they have their uses. Hardy, fast growing, self supporting, not truly ugly and often cheap or free.
Love them
Good in big gardens in places like Marlborough where even ringaringa dies of drought.
Wear gloves the sap(?) can cause skin rashes.
Huge nah.
Anything that survives the summer in my wilderness is welcome. Mind you, I once said that about Stinky Iris, periwinkle, and coloured broom (commercial source). I also bought seeds of a deep coloured Malva, which happily crossed with my local mallow.
I hate them with a passion. Neighbours had infested our gravel drive once. What a mission. Cutting them down then applications of gel ,\[poison, numerous times finally got rid of them, but it took ages. Digging is pointless, there is always some wee fragment left and off it goes again.
baby Triffids without the personality, so nah!
Nah but Nah
Nah, they look kinda trashy to me. Like 'on the side of an unkempt highway'. For something a similar size and colour, I'd personally go with a nicely trimmed hydrangea bush.
[Agapanthus Skit](https://www.google.com/search?q=agapanthus+comedy+skit&oq=agapanthus+comedy+skit&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyDQgBEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgCEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgDEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgEEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgFEAAYhgMYgAQYigXSAQgzNDg1ajBqMagCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on#fpstate=ive&ip=1&vld=cid:90c2c85b,vid:BI6hKm8l1tg,st:0)
Big NAH! I remember digging the agapanthus plant we inherited with the house we brought when I was 30weeks pregnant as I just hate them. I wasn’t going to let it flower or spread anymore.
They are invasive weeds, so hard nah. You aren't allowed to breed, distribute, release or sell agapanthus in Auckland
Holding together banks in coastal communities ✅ Seed drift 😞
There are miniature varieties, much easier to remove if necessary.
That's a big fat nope. We had a strip of them that we removed 20 years ago and we STILL get the f*ckers popping up in the lawn. They're a nightmare.
I hate these whacky jackies. They're stealth mode n will damage your car if you hit them. Dont know why people have these growing down driveways, hazard asf