A tall perennial grass, forming tufts to 1 m high. Arching, thin, leathery leaves 20–30 cm long with prominent veins running lengthways. Flowers are small and occur in pink or purple, bristly, upright spikes at the ends of bamboo-like canes. Fruit are small and dry with long, showy bristles.

There are 15 species of Dianella found across Australia. These hardy plants with fine straplike leaves to 0.6 m high have blue, purple or white starshaped flowers which appear in spring and summer. Flowers are followed by decorative blue berries containing shiny black seeds. Ask your garden centre for advice about the best Dianellas for your garden.

This is a tufted perennial that can grow to 1.5 m high by 0.5 m wide. Its leaves are 10–50 cm long and 2–5 mm wide, green to grey drying to an orangebrown in summer. The flowering period is from December to February. It produces distinct large red-brown spikelets, which occur on branched stems. This attractive grass can be used as an ornamental in rockeries, as part of a native habitat garden, or can be grown in a more formal garden for its interesting colour and texture. It grows in full-sun to part-shade on sandy to clay soils and needs little water once established.

This sterile hybrid is a showy and popular ornamental perennial grass. It grows rapidly in dense clumps of burgundy coloured foliage up to 1.5 m high with arching purple-pink flower plumes in summer. The blooms are foxtail-like, are displayed above the foliage and produced in warm weather. A very hardy grass species that can tolerate periods of drought and light frosts.