Purple flowers on the boulevards?

[syngirl]

My mum came and visited last year and loved all of the purple flowers on the boulevards -- ie down the center of 9 de Julio and pretty much in any of the public parks, the tall stalks with purple flowers. She wants to see if she can find them back home to put on her terrace -- does anyone have any idea what they are called? I haven't a clue. I don't know if they are native to here or if you can easily find them in North America, but they seem to grow like weeds so would be easy to have!

 

[Delfina]

Agapanthus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agapanthus

 

[mini]

I'm glad you asked! I love those flowers too but didn't know what they are called. My grandmother used to have them in her garden.

They grow from bulbs which don't take well to cold grown.

They live in "zone 9" or higher. Check out the zones here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardiness_zone

 

[mobri1130]

I've got them in my garden in Los Angeles and they are quite easy to find in LA and grow easily (with a fair amount of benign neglect on my part).

 

[syngirl]

Thanks! I love them too -- but couldn't for the life of me remember what they are called!

 

[EliA]

Allium, the onion flower, is quite similar to Agapanthus and grows better in some U.S. climates. There are tons of varieties, here is a link to one of them:

http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=931

 

[mini]

I've got them in my garden in Los Angeles and they are quite easy to find in LA and grow easily (with a fair amount of benign neglect on my part).

LA is in zone 10. They will grow well there. You can't grow them outside in New England or Memphis, etc!

 

[katti]

In Belgium we put them in pots on our terraces, and take them inside in winter : they die of frost... It is not easy to keep them if you have frost.