Dianella species

I've started growing these Australasian plants in the last few years and am
becoming increasingly enamoured of them. For one thing it would appear that
they don't insist on perfect drainage at all times simply in order to stay
alive. I also like them for their evergreen foliage (ok, it's not the world's
most glamorous foliage, but I've seen far worse...) as much as for their
flowers and berries. This spring I'm glad to report that those plants I've
got outside have sailed through a cold winter (cold for here: -7C) which was
compounded by the fact that, like the rest of the British Isles, we've
'enjoyed' an incredibly & uniformly wet climate since last August, which has
contributed to a lot of winter damage.

At present I have one well-established clump of D.tasmanica, which has
flowered for the last two years, and a young unflowered plant of what is
either D.laevis or D.revoluta (the donor was unsure which), as well as young
seedlings of D.brevipedunculata, D.caerulea and D.nigra. With the exception
of D.brevipedunculata they've all been outside this winter, and the
seedlings, in 3" pots, must have been frozen through. All are gloriously
alive.

This leads me to want to try some more, and to ask three questions. Firstly,
how many species are there all told, and are they restricted to Australasia,
or do they occur elsewhere? Secondly, how many of these are currently in
commerce? I  assume that this figure varies from one part of the globe to
another: the current figure for the UK appears to be 6. Thirdly, how do the
other species compare, in matters such as flower and berry colour, hardiness,
ornamental value?

Many thanks in advance for any information.

Einion Hughes,
Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales, UK
(approx. Zone 8/9, though you would never think so just now - bucketing down
with rain... again.....!!)
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