Dianella

A potential excellent addition to southern counties, west coast and urban gardens. Good heat tolerance, enjoying sunny locations. At first glance they look like small phormiums, with various forms having coloured evergreen foliage. Sprays of white, green to blue flowers, often with contrasting yellow stamens, during summer are attractive. Some will produce amazing metallic-purple berries after. We are trialling a dark-leaved form, D. tasmanica [Blaze] ('Npw2') in our scree garden. So far, so good!

The flowers attract butterflies and probably other pollinating insects, while the vivid berries are eaten by garden birds. Overwintering tussocks of leaves provide important, sheltered hibernation sites for many beneficial invertebrates such as ladybirds and spiders.