What are they?

They are agapanthus. These buds will open into big round clusters of beautiful blue flowers. They originate from South Africa but you see them everywhere in the Southern Highlands. Their leaves stay lush and green all year round, which makes them attractive for borders and lining paths and driveways.
 
Unfortunately agapanthus very readily escape from gardens and naturalise in the bush. They are classed as an environmental weed and you are not allowed to put their seeds and rhizomes into green waste bins. They are so beautiful, and such a symbol of summer, and yet they really shouldn’t be here at all.