Best in full sun to part shade, with moderate water. Hardy to 20 degrees F.

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 'Ellamae' is a sister seedling hybrid to Agapanthus 'Elaine' was a California's LA State and County Arboretum 1990 introduction 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 Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis but said that "the seed and pollen parents cannot be identified with certainty". Compared to A. 'Storm Cloud', it is a larger more robust plant with larger-wider leaves and taller stems and larger flowers. Compared to 'Elaine' this plant has taller flowers that are bluer (less violet) with wider and deeper green foliage that droops over. This plant received US Plant Patent PP7,297 which has since expired. We grew this variety from 1992 through 2014. 

The information about Agapanthus 'Ellamae' that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.