Agapanthus ‘Taw Valley'

Agapanthus Amaryllidaceae

One of the deep-blue Agapanthus hybrids raised by the late Dick Fulcher at Pine Cottage Plants, the nursery he established with Lorna Fulcher in 1996 at Eggesford in Devon, overlooking the Taw Valley. A particularly handsome selection, with rich, deep-blue funnel-shaped flowers carried in rounded umbels above a neat clump of narrow, glossy, deciduous leaves.

Dick Fulcher was an exceptionally experienced plantsman, having worked at Inverewe and later at Bicton College, and became renowned for his Agapanthus breeding. ‘Taw Valley’ was one of his own hybrids and was already in specialist cultivation by the early 2010s. Its name is a fitting piece of Devon horticultural geography, directly recalling the valley that overlooked Pine Cottage.

The strong blue flowers are produced from mid-summer into early autumn, with the deciduous habit making it particularly well suited to the British climate. Give it full sun and fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil; established plants tolerate surprisingly dry conditions. A winter mulch is worthwhile in colder gardens.

The cultivar’s parentage and original seedling number do not appear to have been published, so we would rather leave that blank than embellish the story — botanical correctness before nursery folklore!

• Hardiness: H5, –15 to –10°C
• Height: 70–90 cm
• Spread: 40–50 cm
• Flowers: July–September/October
• Flower colour: Deep blue
• Foliage: Deciduous
• Breeder: Dick Fulcher, Pine Cottage Plants, Devon
• Introduced: In cultivation by at least 2013; exact introduction date untraced