While the many native edible tree crops such as quondong, illawarra plum, macadamia and small-leafed tamarind are a fine and tasty asset to larger gardens, if you’ve only got a little space, there’s still plenty to choose from to plant. Flower can range in colour from pale blue through to deep blue/purple, are roughly 1 to 2cm wide with 6 petals with 6 exserted yellow to brown stamens. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. I’ve had no trouble growing it from a cutting. When planting a flax lily, remember it does not tolerate standing water and likes well-drained soil. It prefers dry or moist soil. It is a popular raw food and is commonly used as an ingredient for crispy flax crackers. I am hoping to have a broadscale planting of these here in SA in our region, but it sounds like you rockstar gardeners on the East Coast have a better array of deliciousness to play with and I hope someone is motivated and inspired to do something like a native bush food garden somewhere on a large scale… for birds… and humans of course! We receive about 60% in a late summer season (“monsoon”), and the rest in winter. In order to encourage the most vigorous growt… Native American peoples, wild foragers, and sustainable gardeners have and continue to value this plant as nourishing food. We’d love to hear…, We acknowledge that the successful historical stewardship of all the plants discussed above is due to the last many thousands of years in which Indigenous Australians practiced a type of agriculture that was far more regenerative than most other cultures to date, which has resulted in one of the longest continuous cultures of humanity. You know, the main ingredients may be egg whites and ground pistachios, but the highlight has to be those dazzling little berries from the blue flax lily – or dianella caerulea.. It’s an Aussie native I started taking more notice of when I saw it flowering on Mount Tomaree up the coast at Port Stephens. The New Zealand flax is unrelated. We love this plant – it’s a shrubby bush, great for pots, that puts out yellow hibiscus flowers in Spring, followed by the delicious red flower calyx in late Autumn. coastal areas . None of them are invasive, but we don’t use US zoning so you’d need to describe in max/min temps and rainfall . Mariposa Lily. The fruit are shiny blue berries. Richard Morris. Blue Flax Lily or Dianella caerulea is an Australian native perennial plant with edible berries found across the eastern states of Australia… Plants required to Pollinate 1 (Self Pollinating) Learn about Pollination. i’d be interested to know of any staple foods / starches come from Australian natives. Native Rosella, Hibiscus Sabdariffa, is technically from South Africa but now considered naturalised in Australia (please comment below if you know the story with that?). Dianella Tasmanica which looks very similar is not edible and is rumored to not be very tasty either! Please note that only this species is known to have edible fruit. The five-petal, open, blue flax flowers bloom on 1- to 3-foot stalks. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Attracts honeyeaters. What native foods do you cultivate at your place? Reports of the edibility of the fruit range from very poisonous to sweet and nutty (such as D. caerulea), and the beach flax lily (D. congesta) is reportedly the best-tasting. One of our favorites, Blue Flax is a classic American native wildflower. plants edible raw or cooked. While the plants are very tolerant of drought, for best results place in an area with even moisture. Finger limes were once used to provide a fence around vegetable gardens to deter rabbits and roos so if you have either of these pests it might be worth a try. Specifications of Blue flax-lily. None of these will deal with frost or snow very well, but if you have a greenhouse or conservitorium, you could try? Dianella grass plants or flax lilies are a large family of strappy leaved plants found throughout the Asia Pacific region. It might interest some of your visitors to discover how many diseases have an underlying nutritional cure. This perennial version is also often known as Linum lewisii in honor of explorer Meriwether Lewis who remarked upon this species in his journals. The Blueberry Flax Lily is a low vertical-growing perennial ground cover that is native to Australia and can be found in warm climates across the United States, particularly in coastal areas. It is in leaf all year, in flower from May to July. The blue flax flower, Linum lewisii, is a wildflower native to California, but can be grown with a 70 percent success rate in other parts of the United States.The cup-shaped annual, sometimes perennial, flax flower begins blooming in May and will continue through September, producing abundant flowers that last only a day. Chances are, you’ll have seen this plant, or ones just like it, growing throughout temperate and sub-tropical suburbia. It is a herbaceous strappy perennial plant to a metre high, with dark green blade-like leaves to 70 cm long. they can be purchased at greenharvest.com.au. Sea Rocket . Comments have to be approved before they are shown here. Dianella revoluta R.Br.. Dianella revoluta, commonly known as blueberry lily, blue flax-lily, black anther flax-lily or spreading flax-lily is widely distributed within Australia and grows in extremely variable conditions, predominantly in sclerophyll, woodland and mallee forests. This is an understorey rainforest shrub, so consider that when you’re choosing it’s place in your garden, either under another, larger plant, or in a pot – dappled shade in an un-exposed nook will give the best harvest. Hi Elaine I live in the south of the south Island of NZ. Useful Tropical Plants Database 2014 by Quick View. The petals are edible, but the seed pods have awful hairs covering… Read more ». Blue Dicks. The genus is named after Diana, the Roman goddess, of hunting and Queen of the woods and the specific epithet references the first collection of this plant in Tasmania. I have lots of flowers but the leaves are disappearing quickly with these little devils. I have just released my new book, Wild Foods; Looking back 60,000 years for clues to our future survival. The Blue Flax Lily flowers in Spring, followed by flushes of edible blue berries, which are sweet and delicious. Edible Uses: Fruit – raw or cooked. I also think the native Lemon… Read more », thanks Meg! More…, Love this. Dark Emu – black seeds: agriculture or accident? If you would like to support this site, please consider, Whole plant, dried as a botanical specimen, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Name: Blue flax lily Latin Name: Dianella caerulea. It is a good source of Omega-3 essential fatty acids, lignans and soluble and insoluble fibre. , Thanks so much for another great article. 1 Review Add Your Review. Sweet juicy, bright blue, purple berries, quite watery and hard to transport, but really delicious, and heaps of them. The taste is often compared to a baked pear, fig, or sweet potato, and can even used to sweeten other foods. Dianella congesta is an evergreen Perennial growing to 1 m (3ft 3in). You can use the leaves to make a sturdy fibre suitable for weaving also. Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is an annual with slender stems arching from one main stem at the base of the plant to 30” or more. Many varieties are native to Australia and their attractive blue green leaves and deep blue to purple coloured berries make them firm favourites with home gardeners and landscaping professionals alike. Sometimes a dominant understorey species, it can form large spreading colonies. 9830. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Will add Lemon Myrtle to the small-space list , Just a question… Woukd any grow in pots in my neck of the woods… Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was described by the English botanist Joseph Hooker in 1858. Warrigal greens are an excellent ground cover and will out-compete wandering tad given half a chance. General Information Blue flax lily is an evergreen, perennial, stemless, clumping plant growing about 75cm tall. The leaves are edible and should be treated like silverbeet – they have some oxalic acid in them , so blanch before using. yes, lots. Throughout . I’ve recently begun foraging here in Queensland, and love learning about the native foods that grow around me. It makes a lovely … New Books: The Art of Natural Cheesemaking + The Community Scale Permaculture Farm, The Australian Botanic Gardens’ Bush Food bibliography. Blue flax lily, or dianella caerulea, is a hardy perennial bush perfect for poking in the dry corner of a bed or a pot. Of course, this is just the beginning – there are hundreds of other bush tucker plants suitable for your small garden. The longer they’re cooked, the sweeter they get. Plant Characteristics and Culture. Here’s some tasty, compact suggestions for bush tucker gardening on the small. Dianella brevipedunculata – Blue Flax Lily ... Small blue flowers. You can get the book at any good bookshop or order on-line at http://www.wildfoodscience.com, Finger limes are such an easy piece of bush tucker to grow in your garden! The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Also – Hibiscus heterophyllus, the Native Hibiscus (sometimes confusingly referred to as Native Rosella) can be grown in medium gardens, and may grow OK in a pot (I’ve not tried). It is hardy to zone (UK) 9. What’s called Warrigal greens or NZ spinach grows wild in many places right through winter. It’s natural range is from Victoria to southern Queensland, and it puts up with a range of growing conditions. They might even have wrangle greens as well, I’d highly recommend Austromyrtus dulcis “Migim Berry” and Billardiera scandens “Apple Dumpling. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Subscribe | What our students say | Fair Share Policy | Discount and Cancelation Policy | Website Privacy Policy Blue flowers are held above the foliage in Spring, followed in Summer by edible indigo blue berries. An extremely versatile and easy-care dwarf selection with lush blue-green foliage and blue flowers followed by attractive purple berries. Thelionema grande Thelionema plants and species. It is in leaf all year, in flower from May to July. Blue flax (Linum perenne) is a native European wildflower growing as a perennial in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 8. Common Camas is also a major source … SKU. Flax lilies are extremely easy to grow and require little maintenance. In full sun to partial shade, it blooms in mid summer to early fall and is self-sowing. This plant is tolerant of varying soil conditions and different amounts of light. Yes. Would love your thoughts, please comment. A hardy perennial native herb 0.5 to 1.5m tall, cultivated as a garden ornamental for its attractive foliage and striking blue/purple berries. Throughout . It’s a small and thorny shrub, native to the rainforests on the border between NSW + QLD, which yields delicious limes coloured from pink to green, depending on the variety. This plant also has the common name Flax Lily and Blue Berry Flax Lily. Blueberry Lily (aka. The great thing about natives is that they can be excellent marginal plants, growing where sun and nutrient hungry northeners refuse to grow. Red Maids . It adapts readily to cultivation and is commonly seen in Australian gardens and amenities plantings. Dianella Plants. Most soils, part sun or shade. Blueberry Lily, Blue Flax-lily. Edible bluish purple berries. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. I’ve seen the Blue Flax Lily growing at the Singapore Botanic Gardens but had no idea it is native to Australia and that the blue berries are edible. I’ve got all of these except to Rosella. Both are suitable for pots, courtyards, small gardens – and of course larger gardens! http://communitygarden.org.au/, Or Daleys nursery, as noted in the article, sells them, If you want Rosella seeds green harvest has them for sale. Cassa Blue™ Flax Lily. The plant yields a fibre and also has edible fruits, which are sometimes gathered from the wild for local use. Average High – 37C, Average Low – 5C, They are 7-12 mm long. Can it Handle Frosts? The fruit this year was delicious! Online, in person, in print… whatever it takes to get you inspired, we’re here to help you learn! There’s also a hundred good nutritional reasons to eat more foraged wild foods apart from their amazing flavours. Be logged-in to this account these will deal with frost or snow very well, but tolerate. 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