Dierama

Flower & Garden Magazine, Sept-Oct, 1998 by Pamela Waterman

Long popular in England, these delicate debutantes are prime for a coming-out party in American gardens.

"What is that plant?"

You'll hear that question again and again if you grow dierama, a tall, showy plant often seen in English landscapes but rarely found in American gardens. Dierama's most endearing characteristic is the incredibly delicate flower stem that gives the plant its common name, fairy wand. Like a fairy wand, the slender, arching stalks hold flowers high above the foliage as they constantly wave in the breeze.

Gardeners in search of an animated addition to their landscape need look no further -- just one plant makes a real impact in the right spot.

Dierama is a half-hardy corm native to the cool, grassy plains and mountainous slopes of southern Africa. The leaves remain through the winter, making dierama slightly more difficult to handle than other corms that go dormant, such as gladiolus and crocus. And despite its dramatic appearance, the plant has never achieved a high degree of popularity in the United States. Many people have never seen dierama since it rarely flowers in containers and is difficult to ship by mail.

Even experienced gardeners may not be familiar with dierama. Once they see it blooming, they rarely forget it. Each April, Agatha Youngblood opens her 1-1/2-acre perennial garden in Southern California to horticultural groups. She often gets questions about two clumps of established dierama that thrive on a slightly sloping, sunny bank near the entrance to her garden. "Visitors are amazed by the delicate, pendulous flowers constantly waving in the breeze," she notes. "They've never seen dierama. And they're delighted with the common name, fairy wand."

The genus name Dierama is a Greek word meaning "funnel" or "like a bell." The many fanciful names attached to dierama in South Africa, England, Ireland and New Zealand, where it is more commonly cultivated, reveal how the dainty, arching flower stems have excited gardeners' imaginations. Overseas dierama is called angel's fishing flower, angel's fishing rod, wedding bells, grassy bells, flowering grass, hairbells, fairy bells and wandflower.

The stems of dierama arch gracefully under the weight of the purple, pink or occasionally white bell-shaped flowers. Even on still days, dierama stalks catch the slightest air movement, causing the flowers to dance. Dierama typically blooms in late spring or early summer in warm climates, but it may bloom in midsummer in cooler locations. The buds open in succession from the tip inward, keeping the flower stem decorative for a longer time.

Other bulbs in the Iridaceae family, such as gladiolus and freesia, require little water in the summer. However, dierama comes from an area that receives summer rains, so it requires plenty of water during its growing season. This climactic preference is linked to its growth pattern, for dierama corms are evergreen. The old leaves remain on the plant throughout the winter and well into the next growing season. New leaves finally emerge with the flowering stem. The lack of a resting phase has two benefits for gardeners: you always know where the plants are, and the corms don't have to be dug and stored each year like many other bulbs.

Dierama prefers a sunny, moist location in rich, well-drained soil. The plants do best on a north-facing slope in South Africa, which is the equivalent of a south-facing slope in the United States. But in the hottest spots, afternoon shade is an advantage. As the corms do not like to be disturbed and are slow to become established, the site needs to be picked for long-term occupation. Incorporate bone meal into the soil at planting time and continue to feed as new growth appears.

Once established, dierama requires only a modest amount of care. Even after blooming, the flower stalks need not be removed. Small round capsules bob most attractively in the autumn breeze before seed is expelled. Sometimes seedlings flower in the second year but typically not until the third.

In his famous and much-photographed garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex, England, Christopher Lloyd plucks dierama seedlings that have sprouted in the nooks and crannies of an ancient walled section of the garden. A more conventional method of propagation is to sow the small, brownish-black seeds directly in sandy soil and barely cover. Germination may occur as quickly as one week but may take as long as several months. Transplant the seedlings to individual containers when large enough to handle. As plants outgrow their small pots, place them in the prepared garden location.

Another method of propagation is to divide the clumping corms. However, experts advise leaving dierama clumps undivided for best flowering. The corms dislike disturbance, which often results in the plant's failure to bloom the first season after division.

The corms are about as hardy as gladioluses. In the milder climates of Zones 7 to 11, where dierama does not freeze, it will survive outdoors as a perennial. On the East Coast dierama is generally hardy as far north as Washington, D.C. The plants survive temperatures as low as minus 3 degrees Fahrenheit in Oregon. Sometimes severe cold, while not killing the corms, will retard flowering the following year.