Astelia nervosa ‘Westland’ is a delightful and colourful Astelia cultivar from New Zealand which appears to be the hardiest of the genus so far on the market. It takes frost and snow and most plants had little trouble in the particularly cold UK winter of 2010-11 when temperatures plummeted in most regions to at least -10 degrees C. It is considerably more hardy than its cousin, Astelia chathamica ‘Silver Spear’ which struggled in the same conditions. It has beautifully architectural, characteristically sword-like bronze foliage, which varies in colouring through purple or silvery-gold to rusty or copperish tones and often tends to turn more reddish in the colder winter months. These arching, rather rigid and strongly-ribbed bronzy-metallic leaves gives this Astelia a certain contemporary style which is perhaps best described as compact and sculptural, lending itself to a wide range of landscaping uses, particularly in an urban or smaller garden setting. Contrasting well with grey and black aggregates, silver or green plantings or equally at home in a terra cotta or metallic container, Astelia nervosa ‘Westland’ is a perfect, almost indispensible, hardy exotic, which has a unique presence and an ‘in-built’ sense of design.

It likes a moist yet well-drained, somewhat acid soil, best achieved with a humus-rich and sandy mix perhaps with the addition of a little peat. Mulch with leaf mold.