Dianella ‘Baby Breeze’

Dianella 'Baby Breeze' (Dianella caerulea 'Baby Breeze') is the dwarf form of one of Australia's toughest strappy leaf natives. It holds a neat, compact clump about 40cm tall and wide, sends up sprays of small blue flowers in spring, and follows them with berries that bring the birds in. For borders, mass planting and rockeries, it is the plant you put in once and stop thinking about.

Why you'll love it

• It stays where you put it. At 40cm by 40cm this selection keeps its tidy clumping shape, without flopping across paths the way larger flax lilies do.
• It survives nearly everything. Frost, drought, heat, coastal salt and poor soil are all on its tolerance list, which few plants this neat can claim.
• Native, and the birds know it. Blue spring flowers are followed by berries that local birds work through.
• Priced for big plantings. Sold in packs of 10, it is an economical way to fill a border or bank at 40cm spacing.
• One tidy up a year. Remove spent flower stems and it looks after itself.

Where it works best

Mass planting and groundcover. Plant 40cm apart, which works out to about six plants per square metre. The clumps touch into continuous cover while staying low enough to see over.

Borders and edging. It shrugs off the reflected heat along paths and driveways, holding a soft green line that never needs clipping.

Rockeries and coastal gardens. Salt tolerance and a taste for free draining ground make it a natural in rockeries, sandy beds and seaside plantings.

Pots and troughs. The compact habit suits balcony planters and low bowls where bigger strappy plants would swamp the container.

Growing Dianella 'Baby Breeze' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun to light shade. It performs across subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate, Mediterranean and semi arid climates, which covers most Australian gardens outside the wet tropics, and it is fully frost hardy.

Soil. Genuinely unfussy: sand, loam or improved clay, poor soil included, provided water drains away rather than pooling.

Water and feed. Weekly deep watering through the first summer, then the weather does most of the work. A light native fertiliser in spring speeds up cover if you are massing it.

Pruning. Snip spent flower stems at the base. Every three or four years, cut tired clumps back by half in early spring and they refresh with clean new growth.

What to expect when it arrives

We sell Baby Breeze as tube stock and as 140mm pots in packs of 10. Tubes are the economical way to plant a large area and establish quickly in warm soil. The 140mm plants are established clumps that give an instant edge to a border. Expect new growth within a few weeks of planting in the warmer months.

Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the full Australian native range
• Compare groundcover plants for massed cover
• Designing with grasses and strappy leaf plants
• Choosing edging plants for paths and borders

Common questions

How many do I need per square metre?

At the recommended 40cm spacing, about six plants per square metre. For a single border line along a path, one plant every 40cm gives an unbroken edge within a couple of seasons.

Is it safe around pets?

Treat it with a little caution. The berries are reported to cause stomach upset in dogs and cats if eaten, so we do not class it as a pet safe plant. If your dog chews plants, position it out of reach.

Does it handle frost?

Yes. It is frost hardy and holds its foliage through cold winters, which makes it useful in inland and southern gardens where many strappy plants scorch.

How do I keep it looking fresh?

Cut spent flower stems out at the base once flowering finishes. If a clump looks tired after a few years, shear it back by half in early spring and let it regrow.