Plant in full sun to light shade in a decently well drained soil with regular to occasional irrigation. Evergreen in USDA zones 8 - 10. It has exceptional vigor in its larger dense umbel of very dark blue-violet (Violet Blue Group 43A) flowers in combination with its very robust foliage.

The name Agapanthus is derived from the Greek words 'agapé', meaning "love" or "friendship" and 'anthos', meaning "flower" and it is for this reason that "Love Flower" is sometimes given as its common name, though there does not seem to be any colloquial usage of this name and the reason for naming as such remains unclear. Some have suggested that the translation could be interpreted as "lovely flower", "flower of love" or if the name originated from the word 'Agapeo' which means "to be contented with" it could just refer to a flower Charles Louis L'Héritier, who first used the name Agapanthus. A good accounting of this is presented by Wim Snoeijer in his Agapanthus: A Revision of the Genus Timber Press 2004 but essentially Carl Linnaeus (the father of modern taxonomy) in 1753 published the name Crinum africanum for a plant likely brought back to Holland from the Cape of Good Hope by the year 1679. In 1789 Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle, the Director of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, changed the name of this plant to Agapanthus but used the invalid specific epithet umbellatus instead of preserving Linnaeus species name africanus. This mistake has perpetuated naming problems within the genus ever since. In addition, the common "Lily of the Nile" is often used for this plant even though this plant originated in South Africa and not along the Nile River.

Agapanthus 'Elaine' is a sister seedling to the popular Agapanthus 'Ellamae' . It was a Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden introduction in 1990 and was a hybrid developed by Archie A. Amate from Huntington Beach in 1978. Mr. Amate noted that the plants he was working with were Agapanthus africanus and A. praecox ssp. orientalis he but noted that "the seed and pollen parents cannot be identified with certainty". This plant is shorter with darker violet flowers in smaller clusters and has narrower and slightly paler green leaves compared to Agapanthus 'Ellemae'. It received US Plant Patent PP7,303, which has since expired. We grew this variety from 1999 through 2013. 

Information displayed on this page about Agapanthus 'Elaine' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.