Midstorey

Browse plants / Iridaceae

Purple flag Patersonia occidentalis

Also called Long purple flag

When it flowers

Native iris (Patersonia occidentalis), Cathedral Rock National Park, NSW
Native iris (Patersonia occidentalis), Cathedral Rock National Park, NSW. Photo: Cgoodwin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Purple Flag
Purple Flag. Photo: Chris from Evans Head. New South Wales., Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
KRT3913
KRT3913. Photo: Kevin Thiele from Perth, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Grassy native iris with three-petalled purple flowers in spring.

Each soft purple flower lasts only a day, usually opening in the morning, but new ones keep coming through spring. The clumps of stiff, grassy leaves suit rockeries and damp spots in sandy soil.

In the garden

  • Pots and containers
  • Rockery
  • Pond and bog edges
Attracts
Pollinating insects
Flowers
Three-petalled purple-blue flowers, 3 to 4 cm across, each lasting a day.
Leaves
Stiff, narrow, grass-like leaves in tufts.

Growing conditions

Light
Full sun to part shade
Soil
Sandy and loam
Drainage
Copes with occasional wet
Frost
Moderate frost
Water
Some dry spells
Climate
Dry summers (Mediterranean) and temperate

Planting and care

Grown from
Seed and division

Planting

Sun or part shade in sandy soil; happy in spots that are damp in winter.

Pruning

Remove spent flower stems and dead leaves.

Care

Water in long dry spells. Divide old clumps in autumn.

Where it comes from

Family
Iridaceae
Order
Asparagales
Native to
South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia
Natural range
Heath and woodland of southern Australia, often in damp, sandy ground.

Where to buy

Specialist native nurseries.

We don't have stockists listed for this plant yet. Local native nurseries are often the best place to ask.

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