Dierama pulcherrima Slieve Donard Hybrids - Angels fishing rod seeds

This Dierama pulcherrimum 'Slieve Donard Hybrids', poetically called Angel's Fishing Rod, is a jewel for delicate gardens! Forming a tall tuft of ribbon-like foliage, this evergreen perennial blooms in summer with gracefully arching long inflorescences adorned with small pale or bright pink, red or violet bells, carried on aerial stems. It is a frost-sensitive plant, reserved for mild climates or attentive gardeners, but it provides a delightful sight to those who contemplate it. To be grown in full sun or partial shade, in deep, moist, rich, but well-drained soil.

Native to southern and eastern Africa, where it thrives in wet and marshy meadows, this cormous perennial plant belongs to the Iridaceae family, like garden irises or Crocosmias and Gladioli. The 'Slieve Donard Hybrids' selection produces plants with an upright tufted habit and tall, serrated ribbon-like leaves, measuring 90cm (35.4in) to 1.80m (5.9ft) in height, with a spread of 60 to 90cm (35.4in), depending on the climate and soil. The foliage is evergreen, and the plant can withstand temperatures down to about -7°C. The flowering, which is melliferous and nectariferous, occurs in summer, from June to August. Tall, slim and flexible stems emerge from the foliage, carrying long branched spikes adorned with small bell-shaped flowers that gracefully bend. They can be pale pink, brighter pink, carmine red or violet, depending on the plants, and open one after the other. The flowering is followed by the formation of fruits in small ovoid capsules containing numerous brown and hard seeds that need cold to break their dormancy. Dierama is a cormous plant, it possesses a flattened underground storage organ that presents itself in a chain, covered with a fibrous tunic. Plants grown from seeds take 5 to 7 years to flower, so it is best to avoid moving them as they do not appreciate transplantations.

Dierama pulcherrimum 'Slieve Donard Hybrids' is a perfect plant for coastal gardens. Install these plants in a consistently moist, even wet, but well-drained soil to ensure their survival in winter. They will grow alongside Astilbes, Vernonias, meadowsweet, and Ethiopian Arums. They are very graceful plants but a little capricious. Therefore, it is important to choose a sunny and sheltered location for them, cool in summer and dry in winter. They are perfect for swaying in the breeze in gardens with the appropriate climate in borders, mixed borders, flower beds, gravel gardens associated with grasses, near water features, or simply in pots.