"Maligned Marvel"

"Maligned Marvel" was the heading of an article in last weekend's Australian mentioned in a comment to a post a little while back.    And to what did it refer?   Agapanthus, no less!

What a jungle!

In the article, it is pointed out that they're an import from South Africa and they often jump the fence to become garden escapes, smothering native species.  Surely that's enough to condemn them?

But no, the writer says that they're "...generous and easy-going, coping with drought, poor soil, salt winds and neglect."   She likes their flowers and  says that new varieties have been developed, many of them sterile.

I don't think they're attractive and I am not convinced that their virtues, to the extent that they exist, outweigh their faults.  My antagonism to them is reinforced by the strong suspicion that the agapanthus in the streets in this area (and at Lorne) are the raw, aggressive variety.