Lomandra hystrix

I came across Lomandra hystrix a few years ago in an inland nursery where I did not expect to find it. It has attractive bright green leaves. These are up to 1.3m long with the flower spike only a little shorter than the leaves. The flower would be a dramatic inclusion in a floral arrangement.

I haven’t seen this in flower yet. What does attract me to the plant at the moment is the fact that it is frost hardy, a distinct advantage here. We haven’t had this number of frosts for a number of years. Fortunately I seem to have made the right choices in plants to propagate, as only a few have had new growth tipped by the frost.

The Lomandras  seem to be not only frost hardy but reasonably hardy in our hot dry summers also. I will be testing that out this year seeing that I have been able to divide some pieces even if I did hack them about a bit while doing so. I should be able to save a few stock plants ‘just in case!’