Two questions regarding making sure both my agapanthus and delphiniums come back strong next year with the cold winter forecast.

firstly with regard to the delphinium, do i cut whats left of the leaves to the ground and cover with a mulch, or something else? I've got some well rotted manure i could put over the crown, but i think i read somewhere that manure can burn the roots of delphinium, but maybe the author meant new manure thats not well rotted.


with regard to the agapanthus, i got some roots of both white & blue colours from parkers and although the leaves have grown very strongly this year in a pot they didn't flower. i've read that in the first year its quite often they don't flower, and they're in the sunniest position i have so i'm worried about no flowers until next year. Although it wasn't until the August that i read in the RHS garden magazine that they do need to be feed, when somewhere else i read that they don't, anyone care to comment, perhaps its matters whether theyre evergreen or decidous.

i'm pretty sure mine are decididous, it never said in the parkers catalogue and the leaves are still remarkably green, but then again they are near the warmth of the house. I think they were listed as hardy so perhaps i dont need to worry about giving them a mulch, but i thought i'd ask whether i should give them one. Again can i use the well rotted manure, and do i just cover them completely, or is it more cover the soil, but don't cover where they shoot from the root?

thanks for your help!