A spectacular 2005 debut from professional Agapanthus grower Piet Zonneveld, ‘Back in Black’ was originally selected in 1997 out of hundreds of seedlings growing at his nursery.

Despite the obvious novelty appeal of the jet-black stems, that in itself wasn’t enough to qualify it for new introduction status in Piet’s eyes. He selects his varieties on all-round ability, which means ‘Back in Black’ also boasts good strength and produces plenty of flowering stems.

The original plant was grown on and propagated by root division for the next 6 years, until Piet was confident in its stability. It remained a closely guarded secret until the summer of 2003, when Piet finally decided the time was right to unveil his creation to some industry contacts. They were mightily impressed, as were visitors to the Four Oaks trade show in England, where cut stems crowned with decorative black seedheads were exhibited.

Agapanthus ‘Back in Black’ has multifaceted appeal. It’s trademark black stems display large umbels of beautiful deep-purple flowers, which once faded develop into attractive black seed pods which are impressive as dried ‘flowers’.   Although hardy only to zone 6, plants can still grace gardens in colder regions if given sufficient winter protection. See Growing Advice.   And finally, there’s even something to please music fans of a certain generation, as the plant’s name, though an obvious reflection of its distinctive stem colour, also takes inspiration taken from the classic album by AC/DC.