Surprised you lost them, were they more tender varieties? Quite a few are not fully hardy, or perhaps yours were in pots? I only have trouble getting these to flower if I have them in pots - planted in the ground and left to their own devices, they flower fabulously every year, I put in a baby one 2 years ago, and this summer its a clump with 8 flowerheads.

Hi Bamboo, thanks for that, mine were in pots too big to move. I shall plant the new ones into the garden and hope im lucky.

There is a theory that agapanthus flower better when they are crowded. I cut the bottom off a plastic flower pot, sunk it in the ground, and planted three agapanthus inside it - they all flowered the followng season

And I reckon they like a good baking as well. I used to grow these on a south facing slope and they only flowered really well the year AFTER a hot summer.

I know about the 'cramping the roots' thing - it's based on their growing that way in their natural habitat, but frankly, after years of trying various things, shoving them in open ground gave the best results for me. So now, that's exactly what I do, wherever I'm planting them.

thanks all, i am planting in the garden today - fingers crossed!!