Agapanthus 'Black Jack'

If you want a winning plant in your garden, go for Agapanthus 'Black Jack'. It was named Plant of the Year at the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show! 'Black Jack' is a stunning and unique new agapanthus for borders and containers. This dark-flowered beauty stood out from the other new plants, as a superior perennial for sunny summer borders and, in particular, for stylish patio containers. Agapanthus 'Black Jack' is a low-maintenance plant that demands little water, and will survive a few weeks’ summer holiday with no water. It’s climate-proof, too, tolerating both high summer heat and high winter rain. 

In late spring, the upright flowering stems of Agapanthus 'Black Jack' emerge, and by mid-summer these are topped by spherical flowerheads, each one crowded with velvety purple-black florets that open from jet-black buds. The flowerheads are huge, rounded and densely packed with up to a hundred individual florets. Not only this, but Agapanthus 'Black Jack' can often re-bloom, giving as much as three months of flowers. It’s a magnet for pollinators, too. 

Raised by leading South African plant breeders, Agapanthus 'Black Jack' sets a new benchmark for dark-flowered agapanthus.

Crowned with the prestigious award, RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year 2023, you can plant Agapanthus 'Black Jack' and feel confident that you’re going to enjoy a jolly good show from it. It’s not just its incredible appearance which makes this a winning plant, it is also its characteristics—its resilience, strength and endurance makes this a top new garden performer. Notably, this near-black African lily has the ability to rebloom during the season which makes for a long-lasting and truly rewarding show. Grow Agapanthus 'Black Jack' in a sunny, sheltered part of the garden and it will treat you to a fearless display of purple-black blooms on large, tightly-packed flowerheads in summer.

African lilies are known to enjoy the sense of confinement they get from being grown in pots and tend to perform best when they are starting to feel tight on space, baked in the sun and a bit short on moisture. Some may say they thrive on neglect. Agapanthus 'Black Jack' is no different, making this the ideal plant for sunny patios, terraces and courtyard gardens. Whilst it can tolerate temperatures down to around -10°C, tuck this precious plant under cover for winter to keep it out of the worst of the weather and it will grow back bigger and with more blooms each year.