How Often Do Lily of the Nile Bloom?

Let’s not sugarcoat it, after buying a new plant the first thing you want to know about the plant is its flowering pattern. So, after buying an Agapanthus (Lily of the Nile), you’ll want to know how often do Lily of the Nile bloom? 

Lily of the Nile bloom every year. Depending on the specifics of the plants, it may be reblooming or non-reblooming. 

  1. Reblooming Lily of the Nile has the ability to bloom multiple times from spring to fall or winter. Each bloom lasts weeks and requires deadheading to initiate the next bloom. 
  2. Non-reblooming Lily of the Nile only blooms once anywhere from spring to summer for a duration of a few weeks.

If you want detailed information about how often Lily of the Nile bloom, continue reading to find out. 

After How Long Does Lily of the Nile Bloom?

The question of concern is how long will it take agapanthus to start flowering, for the first time? 

Agapanthus plants bought from a nursery may take between 1 and 2 years to show flowers. Otherwise, agapanthus grown from seed may take 4 years to bloom! 

Do Deer Eat Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus)? Ways to Deter Deer

Seed-grown agapanthus will obviously take much longer to flower. This is because apart from establishing themselves they also have to obtain maturity prior to blooming. 

Mature plants bought from cultivators will usually take a minimum of a year to bloom. This period is relatively short because they just have to become acclimatized to the conditions in your garden’s environment. 

But remember, an unhappy Lily of the Nile will not be in a rush to flower! First, it must establish good health, energy, and a steady supply of nutrients. Irregularities relating to soil, sun, water, and weather requirements could put the plant under stress, which affects flowering! 

Additional read: Why your Agapanthus is not flowering + Tips to induce flowering.  

How Many Times A Year Do Lily of the Nile Bloom? 

Lily of the Nile comes in two main varieties, reblooming and non-reblooming variants. Depending on which one you have, you’ll see a difference in flowering. 

How often an agapanthus plant blooms will greatly depend on whether it is a reblooming or non-reblooming cultivar. The former blooms a couple of times over a period of weeks. While the latter will bloom once for a series of weeks. 

A – Reblooming Agapanthus 

A reblooming agapanthus plant will bloom twice (or more times) a year if you decide to deadhead in time. Each bloom lasts a few weeks. 

This type of agapanthus has the ability to start blooming early, at least earlier than the other variant. The first bloom will take place in spring and there will be regular reblooming up until the first frost initiates the winter season. 

But, multiple blooming sessions will only occur if the plants are deadheaded before they drop seeds. After the flowers are spent the plant will concentrate its energy on developing seeds. 

Deadheading evidently plays an important role in dictating how often Lily of the Nile bloom.

So, if you deadhead the flower head, energy will then be relocated towards blooming again. Thus you can experience more blooming sessions all just because of the action of deadheading which almost acts as pruning. 

Wondering when you should carry out flowerhead removal? 

Look to the flowers for telling signs. The bottommost flowers shouldn’t be the only ones to be dry and disfigured. When all the flowers look like these at the bottom, that’s when you know to remove them all (the entire flower head). 

After this, you will be surprised shortly by a new flower head! 

If you don’t deadhead it in time, you may need to know how to get rid of Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus) plants. 

B – Non-Reblooming Agapanthus 

The story is quite different from non-reblooming agapanthus variants. They generally do not flower more than once a year. Plus, these appealing flowers will only last a few weeks before they will start to produce pods bearing seeds. 

So, is it even necessary to deadhead non-blooming agapanthus if they don’t even rebloom? 

Actually, there is an advantage or two of carrying out this activity on your non-reblooming Lily of the Nile. 

  • For one, it neatens the plant out. The blooms are eye-catching when they first open. After the flowers aren’t as fresh-looking, they are much less of an attraction! 
  • Another reason is that the plant will drop seeds after the flowers are consumed. This will result in a large number of new plants that are not of high quality. In fact, agapanthus plants are weeds that can be troublesome to control! 

These seedlings will grow into a plant that does not represent the original plant. This is due to over-cultivation that results in plants with completely different traits that are often poorer than expected. They are often invasive and not very reflective of an ideal agapanthus plant. 

There is only one way to avoid these scenarios, that’s by deadheading the flowers. 

Get to know the real reasons why Agapanthus flowers flop. 

Conclusion

Whether you know them as Lily of the Nile, African Lilies, or Agapanthus, there’s no denying they are a great addition to the garden. But, immediately your mind will automatically be asking how often do Lily of the Nile bloom?

Lily of the Nile bloom once a year if they are non-reblooming cultivars. But, the reblooming cultivars bloom continuously till the blooming period ends: usually in winter. Each bloom will last a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks. 

Also, if you are planting Lily of the Nile from seed, you will have to wait 4 years to see the first flowers. Whereas adult plants bought from the nursery will take 1or 2 years to flower initially. These figures are assuming that all environmental conditions are favorable for growth. 

Now that you have the answers, will you be planting more agapanthus plants or will you be replacing them? 

Find out where to buy Agapanthus and what factors to consider. 

FAQs

Which Lily of the Nile plants bloom most? 

The reblooming Lily of the Nile plants will definitely bloom more than the other cultivar. Some of the examples of varieties in this category are Blue Heaven, Ever Amethyst, Galaxy Blue, and Ever Sapphire. 

Do Agapanthus plants bloom every year?

Yes, agapanthus will bloom every year after it has established itself. Yearly blooming will occur only if agapanthus plants are grown in the right conditions. Pruning these plants too close to their flowering date could result in forfeiting flowering for a year! 

Do Agapanthus spread?

Yes, Lily of the Nile, aka Agapanthus does spread quite a bit. These plants have a few ways of spreading and seeds just happen to be one of them in addition to invasive rhizomes and roots. If you don’t want your agapanthus to spread, it’s best to deadhead them before seeds form and drop.