Reviewed By ROY NICOL
Roy is a Professional Gardener and Horticultural Consultant, specialising in large garden year-round maintenance and garden development. He is an RHS Master of Horticulture and uses his research in the application of no-dig methods in ornamental garden settings. Roy has been a Professional Gardener for more than six years and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture, Professional Gardener's Guild and Association of Professional Landscapers (Professional Gardener).
IN THIS GUIDE
- 1) D. pendulum
- 2) D. pulcherrimum
- 3) D. jucundum
- 4) D. igneum
- 5) D. robustum
- 6) D. pauciflorum
- 7) D. reynoldsii
- 8) D. erectum
- 9) D. dracomontanum
- 10) D. mossii
- 11) D. trichorhizum
- 12) D. pulcherrimum ‘Blackbird’
- 13) D. pulcherrimum ‘Blackberry Bells’
- 14) D. pulcherrimum var. album
- 15) D. ‘Guinevere’
- 16) D. luteoalbidum
- References
With their more than passing resemblance to fishing rods when in bloom, Dieramas look nothing so much as plants out of a fantasyland fairy garden and they will be a delight to both young and old.
Here are sixteen commonly grown varieties with a sweetly charming habit:
1) D. pendulum
Common Name: Fairy Bell
From the Eastern Cape.
Overhanging dense clumps of foliage, flower stalks are a full 1m long and the blooms’ hues vary from pale pink to bright, brilliant pink.
2) D. pulcherrimum
Common Name: Angel’s Fishing Rod
Found in a wide swath of land in South Africa.
It is a comparatively dense plant with good spread, bearing many flower stalks of just over 1m.
Flowers are a bright pink-purple.
3) D. jucundum
Common Name: Delightful Wandflower
From the Cape of South Africa.
It tops out at about 1m and its stalks are even wirier than the norm.
It produces comparatively smaller flowers but they are more flared open than most and are of a brilliant, deep pink-magenta colour.
4) D. igneum
Common Name: Fiery Wandflower
Native to a few countries in South-Eastern Africa.
At 30-70cm it is one of the shorter and smaller species but produces foliage and flower stalks quite densely.
Flowers are a bright rosy pink.
5) D. robustum
Common Name: Robust Wandflower
From South Africa and Lesotho.
Its name refers to its stalks’ great height as they are typically between one and 1.5m.
Making a fine contrast with anything ‘robust’ are the bells which are wholly pendent and in the most demure shade of pastel pink.
6) D. pauciflorum
Common Name: Few-Flowered Wandflower
Native to a large swath of land in Southern and East Africa.
The plant itself is not large and is of a dwarf type, rising to only 30-40cm; the flower stalks merely peeking past the foliage.
Drooping bells are of a bright candy pink colour.
7) D. reynoldsii
Hails from the highlands of KwaZulu Natal in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
It is a tall species, with flower stalks reaching about 2m tall.1Dierama reynoldsii. (n.d.). PlantZAfrica. Retrieved June 5, 2023, from http://pza.sanbi.org/dierama-reynoldsii
The flowers, perfectly bell-shaped, are uncommon, being of a rich wine-red tone.
8) D. erectum
Also hails from KwaZulu Natal but makes its habitats in lowlands near rivers and streams.
Though its flowers are the ‘normal’ pink-purple colour, it too is an uncommon species.
First, with flower stalks rising to over 1m and up to 1.5m, it is a giant.
Next, it is virtually unique among Dierama for bearing erect spikes of upward- or outward-facing flowers.
9) D. dracomontanum
Common Name: Drakensberg Wandflower
Grows in South Africa and Lesotho and most particularly in the Drakensberg Mountains.
It is a montane species.
Flower stalks do not arc as much as most other species, especially as they grow to only about 60cm.
The blooms are smaller than most and are of a bright salmon pink to coral pink hue.
10) D. mossii
Common Name: Moss’s Wandflower
Grows in most of South Africa.
It is a dwarf species as its flower stalks are only 40-50cm.
Though they are comparatively short, they arc gracefully.
Flowers are narrow bells and of a vibrant purplish-pink tone.
11) D. trichorhizum
Common Name: Hairy-Rooted Wandflower
Hails from the highlands of South Africa and Lesotho.
It too is a dwarf with flower stalks of only 30-40cm, which do not arc much.
Its flowers too are narrow and bell-like, and are mauve-pink.
12) D. pulcherrimum ‘Blackbird’
Similar to the species with the difference that the flowers’ tones are from a deep fuschia to a wine-purple tone, making it an eye-catching variety.
13) D. pulcherrimum ‘Blackberry Bells’
Similar to the species with the difference that the flowers’ tones are from a pink-purple to rich, deep purple, making this an eye-catching variety as well.
14) D. pulcherrimum var. album
Common Names: White Angel’s Fishing Rod; D. ’Snowbells’
Similar to the species with the difference that the flowers are pure white.
Because of the uncommon colour it is one of the most desirable Dierama varieties.
15) D. ‘Guinevere’
Produces stalks of a little over 1m in height over the foliage of about 1m.
The flowers are more flared open than most and are pink-tinged or pink-flushed white.
16) D. luteoalbidum
Found only in KwaZulu Natal in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, and not in abundance.2Dierama luteoalbidum. (n.d.). Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:436848-1
In fact, it is an endangered species.3Fennell, C. (2022, March 28). Dierama luteoalbidum. Academia. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.academia.edu/1563260/Dierama_luteoalbidum_Liquid_culture_provides_an_efficient_system_for_the_ex_situ_conservation_of_an_endangered_and_horticulturally_valuable_plant
It is rare because of its endangered status and also because of the colour of its flowers which is a pale lemon-yellow progressing to yellowish-white.
As Dierama plants are becoming more and more appreciated in the United Kingdom, nurseries specialising in bulbs and rhizomes are developing their own hybrids and cultivars including bicoloured ones.
