Long, slender strands of silver foliage make this native foliage plant enchanting. It’s as tough as it’s beautiful, hardy to cold, happy in poor soils, thriving in sun or shade. It’s also extremely drought tolerant, which means you can plant it without the worry of how it will cope with dry summers and water shortages. Its main requirement is a well drained soil.

Astelia banksii can be used as part of a dramatic foliage planting - it looks stunning in the foreground of plants with bold green foliage. Or plant it for contrast among the very popular succulents. In shade gardens, mix it with low growing native ferns such as Asplenium bulbiferum or renga renga, Arthropodium cirratum ‘Matapouri Bay’. There aren’t many plants which are perfectly at home in dry shade, but this is one of them.

The tolerance of drought makes it superb for containers. It can remain in the same pot for many years and will go on getting better and better with just the occasional watering in dry summer periods. Now how many container plants are that undemanding? Because the outer leaves cascade, it’s especially attractive in a tall, fairly narrow pot.

The beautiful, cascading habit of growth means Astelia banksii is also ideal for growing on a bank or raised garden.