Dietes grandiflora (large wild iris)

Japanese name: ディエテス グランディフロラ
Scientific name: Dietes grandiflora

[Overview]
An evergreen perennial 0.9–1.2 m tall.
The rhizomes creep horizontally.
The leaves are alternate in two ranks like a fan, sword-shaped, 1 m long, with an inconspicuous midrib.
Flowers bloom on the same flower stalk every year.
A cyme at the tip of the flower stalk bears white flowers 7–10 cm across.
There are 6 tepals; the outer tepals have a yellow marking at the base, and the inner tepals have dark brown spots at the base.
The upper part of the style divides into 3 branches, each of which is shallowly 2-lobed at the tip and becomes a bluish purple, petal-like structure.
Each flower usually wilts in a day, or in 3 days at the longest.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division; it also spreads readily by self-sown seed.
It prefers a sunny, airy, well-drained site, and if the conditions suit it, it grows well even when left alone.
It can overwinter outdoors in frost-free areas from the Kanto region southward.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply liquid fertilizer during the growing period.
Flowers bloom on the same flower stalk the following year, so do not cut the flower stalk even after flowering ends.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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