I grow them in the ground but I have grown seedlings which start off in pots for a few years. They HATE disturbance and I'm not sure how you would refresh the compost in a pot.
If you use a loam-based compost such as a John Innes #3 and add about 25% well-rotted manure or home-made garden compost (not multi-purpose) to help retain moisture, they should do OK in large containers as long as you never let them get even close to drying out which will cause them to die back. Dierama really do need proverbial "moist but well-drained" growing conditions. They shouldn't need feeding for a year or two but then use a general liquid feed in spring and summer, mixed and used as per packet instructions.
I grew about a dozen from seed and which had finally got to flowering age (~ 3 years) but lost about half of them in the extraordinarily dry summer we had in the e.mids last year. Collected plenty of seed though - must remember to check the seed trays in the cold frame this w/e!
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Thanks for that, @Papi Jo. There's no way I'm going to grow them from seed, as I'm not a hugely competent gardener, and I have very little patience! They do look beautiful, though, so maybe I should consider putting them in the border rather than in pots...
Hi @Janie B Em, patience is the most important quality in a gardener, I'm afraid. I am myself by nature a rather impatient person and I find that gardening is a good therapy in that respect.
Here's the story of the dierama(s) in my garden. Planted 4 specimens back in 2014 (in my borders). 2 specimens die not survive the first winter. Another specimen disappeared last year. Which leaves me with just one specimen, which has grown enormously and had no less than 25 flower stems last summer. You will find from the info available on this forum and elsewhere on the internet that it can be a tricky plant to grow, but certainly very rewarding... when it will grow. I have no experience of growing it in a pot, nor of growing from seed (which might take ages anyway), but I would certainly encourage you to grow it in a border if you can. More info and pics on my garden site at http://www.rezeau.org/wp-garden/en/dierama-pulcherrimum-lancelot-2/
I grew some from seed, they’ve taken a couple of years to make a decent sized bulb but werent that big. I planted them out in the border last summer, they’ve gone mad shooting up all round, I can see now I’ve put them far to close together so will need to split them this year, if you’re growing them in pots I don’t think you could put more than 2 in a pot. Much better in the ground to let them spread to their full potential.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
They are lovely plants, especially if you grow them on a tall bank so they can overhang. I dug an old one up which I thought was ailing, split it and planted one section in my high sleeper bed last year. It flourished straight away and flowered much better but so did the other half I replanted in the same spot (having improved the soil first). Win, Win.
Posts
Much better in the ground to let them spread to their full potential.