Butterfly Iris Tiny Dancer

Butterfly Iris 'Tiny Dancer' (Dietes iridioides 'Tiny Dancer') is the compact form of the strappy leaf plant landscapers reach for when a border has to look good with almost no attention. It sits at about 40cm tall and 40cm wide, roughly half the size of a standard dietes, and carries small white iris flowers through the warmer months. It handles frost, drought, heat, salt spray and poor soil, a rare list for a plant this neat.

Why you'll love it

• It stays small. At 40cm each way it edges a path or a driveway without flopping across it, unlike the full sized dietes that needs constant cutting back.
• Tough almost anywhere. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, heat tolerant, salt tolerant and content in poor soil, so it suits sites from arid inland gardens to exposed coastal frontages.
• White flowers over a long season. Small iris flowers appear on slim stems across the warm months, each one short lived but replaced steadily.
• Evergreen and predictable. The clump holds its shape year round, so a mass planting looks deliberate in winter as well as summer.

Where it works best

Borders and edging. Plant 40cm apart for a continuous border. At that spacing the clumps meet by the second season and read as one clean line rather than a row of separate plants.

Mass planting. The same 40cm spacing works across a wide bed or a median strip. It is one of the cheapest ways to cover ground that gets no irrigation.

Poolside and coastal gardens. Salt tolerant and undemanding, with foliage that does not drop and clog a skimmer box the way many shrubs do.

Growing butterfly iris in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the best flowering and the tightest clump, though it accepts part shade with fewer flowers. It suits tropical, subtropical, warm temperate, Mediterranean and arid gardens, and being frost hardy it also comes through cold inland winters without damage.

Soil. Almost anything. It grows in sand, clay and thin poor ground, and tolerates the compacted soil found along driveways and around new builds. Persistent waterlogging is the only real limit.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer to settle the roots, then it can live on rainfall in most districts. A light complete fertiliser in early spring keeps the foliage green, but heavy feeding gives soft growth and little extra flower.

Grooming. Pull spent flower stems out by hand rather than cutting them, which keeps the clump tidy without leaving stubs. Every few years cut the whole clump back to about 10cm in early spring to refresh it.

What to expect when it arrives

This variety is supplied in tube stock and in 140mm pots sold in packs of ten. Tube stock is the value option for a long border, while the 140mm plants are established clumps that fill their space noticeably faster. Both arrive as clumps of strappy foliage rather than flowering plants.

Strappy leaf plants travel well, since the foliage is flexible and there is nothing brittle to snap. Expect the clump to settle within a month and reach full size in its second growing season. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Choosing the right edging plants
• Browse grasses and strappy leaf plants
• Plants suited to mass planting
• Plants for poolside gardens

Common questions

How is it different from ordinary dietes?

Mostly size. 'Tiny Dancer' holds at around 40cm where the standard form reaches close to a metre, so it suits a border edge that a full sized dietes would swamp within two seasons.

How far apart should I plant it?

Forty centimetres apart for a continuous border or mass planting. That gives roughly six plants to the square metre and lets the clumps join without competing.

Does it need cutting back?

Not often. Pull old flower stems out by hand as you notice them, and cut the whole clump back to about 10cm every three or four years if it starts to look tired.