Page 22 - Landscape-Issue126

FEATURE

Winning acknowledgements
AGAPANTHUS ‘BLACKJACK’:

A RIGHT ROYAL WINNER !

Plant breeder Andy de Wet, owner of Central Nursery Depot and The Aloe Farm,
has won Plant of the Year at the UK’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show for Agapanthus
‘BlackJack’. Together with Quinton Bean, they recently produced this award-
winning plant with its striking deep purple colouring.

reeding a new plant is a long journey,
explains de Wet. “You have to have a
Bbroad, basic knowledge of the genus,
recognise its potential, and study all the
different plants in that genus. There are
many different species and the process is
complex.”
He goes on to explain that creating
hybrids is often “a hit and miss process”, as
some plants are prone to diseases and can
rot easily. After the first few combinations,
and pollinating one plant with another,
it is essential to keep track of the original
parentage of the plant. “Hybridising is a
road of discovery,” he says.
The time frame for producing a new
plant variety takes a minimum of ten years,
and once a winning plant is found, it takes
another seven years before reaching the
market. De Wet says they discard all plants
that are not suitable and during the course
of the breeding programme, they raise
thousands of pollinated seedlings. “If even
one of these reaches the market, we’re
Agapanthus ‘BlackJack’ is suitable for containers as well as mass planting in larger landscaped spaces

20 Landscape SA • Issue 126 2023