One advantage of our mild climate is that you can grow Agapanthus in your garden

Look up any gardening book and it will tell you that if you want to grow Agapanthus successfully, you’ll have to do so in a container. That is so you can bring them in during the winter to avoid frost damage, writes Arthur O'Meara.

One of the advantages of living in Ireland, which has a maritime climate kept warm by the North Atlantic Drift, is that you can quite successfully grow Agapanthus in your garden.

Even in the midlands, which is farthest from the sea, we don’t get prolonged severe frosts that would be normal on the continent and northern England.

When they write gardening books, they tend to forget about "little" Ireland and the fact that we have a fantastic climate for growing plants.

Agapanthus are in flower now and they fall into two main groups: Africanus (and Agapanthus Campanulatus; see below), which is the evergreen one, and which produces show-stopping, football-sized (a slight exaggeration) blooms on stout stems up to four feet high. They are native to South Africa, therefore they have specific requirements. They must be planted in well-drained soil and in full sun – the perfect mix is two thirds topsoil and one third pea gravel.

If you are planting them in a container, use the same open mix, but with the container use a saucer, otherwise they will dry out too quickly in the growing season.

Agapanthus are ideally suited to containers as they flower better when they are slightly pot-bound; they say you only re-pot an Agapanthus when it breaks its pot.

Agapanthus Africanus are usually available in blue or white, and nowadays hybrids are coming on the market so you will get blue with white blotches and white with blue blotches.

Plant a number of whichever colour you prefer, about two and a half feet apart and under-plant with Geranium Roxanne, which is sky blue and flowers from May to September.

The Agapanthus will flower from late July until October and the fading flower spikes will persist well into winter.

Africanus has a smaller cousin, which will take up to minus 10 degrees.

These are the deciduous type (Agapanthus Campanulatus). They produce more flowers than Africanus, but are not as big and some of the blues can be more intense.

If you are in the garden centre over the next few months, I’m quite happy with the ones growing in the bed just outside our door. And, by the way, I cover mine when it goes below minus 5.