King Alfred Flax Lily

Dianella caerulea 'John316'

Dianella caerulea ‘King Alfred’ in September 2015 on 60% ETo. Photo: SK Reid.

Summary

Another Australian native cultivar, this was a lovely, lush, grass-like plant with pale violet blue flowers on long stalks which were followed by bright purple berry-like fruits.  Flowering was not dense enough to be the major feature of the plant, however, and the stalks, which came up straight beginning in March, had a tendency to lodge toward the southeast by May.  We attribute this to our prevailing winds from the northwest in spring. In a more protected area, or even with higher solar radiation (potentially yielding shorter, stouter stalks), this may not be a problem.  Any apparent differences in growth between treatments were statistically insignificant; average height and width at the end of the trial was 43” x 61” (111 x 154.5 cm).  A moderate mealybug infestation appeared late in the trial period in September.  While one plant on each of the highest treatments had some level of the pest, the two lower irrigation treatments had two (20% ET₀) and 3 (40%) plants seriously affected. For this reason, the 40% ET₀ treatment had significantly lower pest tolerance and overall appearance ratings (Table 14).  There seemed to be some field-position related effect, but the difference couldn’t be completely correlated to that.  Due to the double stress of the pest pressure and lower irrigation level, the overall appearance of the two lowest levels in October was really unacceptable.  Our recommended level of irrigation for this cultivar is 60% ET₀, which for us in a moderately heavy soil was a deep soak every 6 weeks, or three times during the summer.

D. caerulea ‘King Alfred’ in June 2015 with lodged flower stalks to the northeast. Photo: SK Reid.

Growth and Quality Data

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Dianella caerulea ‘King Alfred’ with flowers and berries in June 2015. Photo: SK Reid.

D. caerulea ‘King Alfred’ in October 2015 on 20% ETo with mealybug. Photo: SK Reid.