Plant in full sun to light shade (blooms better in sun) and given regular irrigation. Evergreen to about 25 degrees F. This charming little plant is slower growing than most other Agapanthus and is also a bit shyer of bloom, but its attractive foliage makes it a very attractive and useful plant planted in the garden or used in container gardening, where it can be a small potted specimen or used in a mixed planting.

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.

In Wim Snoeijer's book Agapanthus: A Revision of the Genus the cultivar 'Tinkerbell' is listed as originating in New Zealand as a sport or seedling mutant of Agapanthus cultivar 'Peter Pan' and was first listed in nurseries in New Zealand in 1991 however this plant was in the California horticultural trade in California prior to this date. We first saw this plant at Carman's Nursery, a rare plant nursery in Los Gatos, California in 1990 and it could be found widely in California retail garden centers by 1992. San Marcos Growers grew a d sold has offered this plant since 2000 but discontinued producing and selling it in 2016. 

The information about Agapanthus 'Tinkerbell' 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.