Dianella Little Rev

Dianella 'Little Rev' (Dianella revoluta 'Little Rev') is the compact blue flax lily landscapers reach for when a bed needs strappy foliage that will not splay open. It forms a tidy clump about 60cm tall and 50cm wide, with narrow blue grey leaves and sprays of small blue flowers in spring. This Australian native copes with poor soil, drought, frost and salt, an unusual combination in one plant.

Why you'll love it

• It holds its shape. Older dianellas flop and open in the middle. This selection stays upright and clumped at about 60cm, so a mass planting still looks deliberate after three years.
• Blue grey foliage that reads all year. Evergreen, fine textured and cool in colour, so it sits well against render, sandstone and dark mulch.
• Almost no maintenance. No staking, no deadheading, no regular feeding. A cut back every second or third year is the whole job.
• Tolerant of the hard spots. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant and happy in poor soil, from arid inland gardens to coastal edges.

Where it works best

Mass planting. Plant 40cm apart for a dense unbroken sweep. At that spacing the clumps knit within a season and leave no bare soil for weeds to claim.

Borders and edging. A single row at 40cm gives a soft low edge along a path or driveway that never needs clipping to stay tidy.

Rockeries and pots. It takes reflected heat and lean soil, so it suits gravel gardens, rockery pockets and pots on a hot balcony.

Growing Dianella 'Little Rev' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun to part shade. Sun gives the tightest clump and the bluest foliage; shade turns it greener and looser. It grows across subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate, Mediterranean and arid districts, which covers most of the country.

Soil. Not fussy. Sand, clay loam, gravel and genuinely poor soil all work, provided water does not sit around the crown through winter. Mulch 50mm deep, kept off the base of the clump.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer to get the roots down, after which it lives on rainfall in most districts. A light native fertiliser in spring is optional rather than necessary.

Pruning. Cut the whole clump back to about 15cm every two or three years in early spring if it starts to look tired, and it reshoots strongly. Between times, pull spent flower stems out by hand.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is grown as tube stock, so plants arrive young: a small clump of leaves with a developing root system in a narrow pot. Tube stock is the sensible way to buy a plant used in numbers, and dianella establishes fast, closing a 40cm spacing by the end of the first year in warm weather.

Plant it out promptly rather than holding it in the tube, and water it in well. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery, and every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Read the full dianella care guide
• Compare grasses and strappy leaf plants
• Plants suited to mass planting
• Choosing edging plants for a garden bed

Common questions

How many plants do I need per square metre?

At 40cm spacing, roughly six plants to the square metre. For a narrow edging strip, count the running metres and allow about two and a half plants for each one.

Does it flop like other dianellas?

No, and that is the whole point of the selection. It was chosen for a compact upright habit and holds around 60cm without splaying open through the centre.

Will it grow under trees?

Yes, in part shade. The foliage goes greener, the clump looser and flowering lighter, but it stays healthy in dry root competition where many strappy plants sulk.