Discover the Diversity of Phormium Varieties!
Need some pizazz in your garden? If you are finding your garden a little tired and in need of structure or a year around focal point, phormium is a great plant to consider. It’s positively uplifting and eye-catching.
Phormium is ubiquitous in the drought tolerant California landscape. This plant has very distinctive sword-like leaves which all branch out from its base. There are small 18” deep bronze phormium varieties, and there are large green 10’ phormiums—and everything between.
There were two phormium varieties I first remember seeing in the landscape back in the 1980s, and they were both an olive-like green.
One of these phormium, Phormium Tenax, was big and upright. Big like 10’ tall! The common name for this plant is New Zealand Flax.
The other phormium variety I saw, Phormium cookianum, was about the same color but the leaves were narrower and arching. The common name for this plant is Mountain Flax.
I can still picture them, framed by a lovely sea of low growing juniper!
It wasn’t until the ‘80s that the colorful new hybrids started to be introduced using these two plants.
Over the years, many new phormium varieties were created with different colors, sizes, and shapes. Phormium cultivars of P. tenax and P. cookiannum are now available in shades of green, yellow, pink, red and bronze.
Phormium Comes in Many Colors, Shapes and Sizes
To help you understand all the options of phormium we now have, I’ve divided the cultivars by color, ordered by height—and made note of each plant’s shape.
COLORS: As you read this post, you’ll see that I’ve grouped these phormium varieties by color category, as follows:
- The Greens = greens
- The Brights = yellows
- The Colorful = multi-colored
- The Darks = deep reds
SHAPES: While the colors and striations of these cultivars vary widely, the form of the plant can basically be broken down into three shapes depending on the leaves: Upright, slightly arching, and arching.
Finding the Right Type of Phormium for You
In general, phormium are easy-to-grow plants that take little to moderate water, and sun or shade. They do better with sun or with partial shade in hot climates, particularly the colorful hybrids.
Unless otherwise noted in the descriptions below, assume I’m talking about Phormium Tenax (aka, New Zealand flax) in all these colorful new plants!
GREEN PHORMIUM VARIETIES
Well, we know that the parent plants, or Phormium tenax and Phormium cookianum, both fall in this category.
Small Green Phormium
Phormium cookianum ‘Emerarld Green’ is a dwarf cultivar of Phormium cookianum. This upright flax has lime green leaves and grows to 2’ tall by 2-3’ wide. This is an exception, most cookianum are arching in growth.
Medium Sized Green Phormium
Phormium cookianum, one of the originals! This Mountain Flax gets to 4-5’ tall and wide with olive green leaves which are wide, about 2 ½”and they arch gracefully. The flower color, which extend up from the plant in long stocks, is a yellowish-orange with seed pods that follow the bloom. Both are used in large floral arrangements.
Large Green Phormium
Phormium tenax is another one of the original phormiums or parent plants. It is a tall upright phormium with the common name, as mentioned above, of New Zealand Flax.
This plant is very hardy – hardier than the colorful varieties. Phormium tenax is probably the most durable of all the phormiums– taking more extreme conditions in weather and soil.
This upright phormium gets 6-8’ tall and sometimes taller. It has 3-4” wide olive green leaves and reddish flowers on long stalks.
The flowers of both P. tenax and P. cookianum bloom in late spring and early summer. These flowers attract nectar seeking birds.
There are many cultivars (or hybrids) of phormium, and they come in a variety of colors.
BRIGHT PHORMIUM VARIETIES (yellows)
Small phormium with yellow
P. ‘Wings of Gold’ — Phormium ‘Wings of Gold’ is olive green with creamy yellow margins. The stiff leaves get to 2-2 1/2 ‘ tall and wide. I would consider this an upright but wide shaped flax.
Medium phormium with yellow
Phormium “Yellow Wave” — This is a lovely moderate sized phormium, growing about 3-4’ tall and wide. The leaves add a splash of lemon-yellow with bright green at their margins. The leaves of Phormium ‘Yellow Wave’ arch gracefully, softening the structure of the plant. It would be considered a “slightly-arching” variety.
Phormium cookianum ‘Cream Delight’ — This flax will get to 3’ tall. This is a cookianum so this plant will be wide with its very arching, almost cascading leaves.
We are talking about this phormium getting to 6’ wide! The leaves are 2-1/2″ with cream-yellow center and green margins edged with red. Please be considerate of its size: a phormium not allowed its due space will not look as good.
Large phormium with yellow
Phormium tenax ‘Variegatum’ — This upright variegated flax gets to 6-8’ tall with 3” wide foliage that have green and creamy yellow strands running down them. This is a lovely and large upright phormium.
COLORFUL PHORMIUM VARIETIES (multi-colored)
These colorful New Zealand Flax have strong variegations in their leaves.
Small colorful phormium
P. ‘Flamingo’ — Phormium ‘Flamingo” is a 2’ tall slightly arching phormium, with rosey-pink center and bronze edges.
Can’t find it? Try P. ‘Carousel’ — it has slightly arching green leaves with a pink edge with a growth to 1 ½-2 feet.
Medium colorful phormium
In the photos above, Phormium ‘Rainbow Warrior’ is on the left, and the bigger Phormium ‘Rainbow Chief’ is on the right.
P. ‘Rainbow Warrior’ — This plant is a bright phormium has a dark pink-red center with olive green margins and thin variations in the center color which fades to a cream with age. This upright plant get to 3-4’ tall and wide.
Large colorful phormium
P. ‘Rainbow Chief’ — This is a striking phormium with bronze streaking contrasting with pink red streaking. It grows upright to 5-6’ tall and wide with arched tips.
Phormium ‘Sundowner’ — This one gets big! We are talking 6-8 feet tall and wide. Remember to leave room for it when you plant! The leaves of this upright phormium are medium to olive green variegated with rose pink and cream.
There are many cultivars grown with varying degree of ‘sunset’.
DARK PHORMIUM VARIETIES (deep reds)
Small dark phormium
P. ‘Shiraz’ — This flax is very upright with deep red wine-colored leaves. It gets to 2′ to 2-1/2′.
Medium dark phormium
P. ‘Platts Black’ — This upright beauty gets to 3-4’ tall and 2-3’ wide. The glossy leaves are dark chocolate brown with some green. The plant is often used to contrast with bright green and yellow colors.
P. ‘Bronze Baby’ — This is an arching cultivar with bronze leaves. It gets to about 2-to-3-foot tall and wide.
Large dark phormium
Phormium tenax ‘Variegatum’ — This upright variegated flax gets to 6-8’ tall with 3” wide foliage that have green and creamy yellow strands running down them. This is a lovely and large upright phormium.
It gets to 6-8’ tall and 4-5’ wide. These proportions give you an idea of just how upright this New Zealand flax is.
The 3-4” leaves are a deep reddish-purple. This is the red-foliaged version of the very hardy Phormium tenax.
Do Phormium Have Flowers?
While the parent phormium plants have big rather glorious flowers, the cultivars don’t often flower.
Hybrid (In)Stability
Think of it this way, these hybrids have a desire to revert back to the parent plant. This means the lovely variegated leaf you spent so much time picking out wants to be the green or bronze of Phormian tenax and cookianum.
To help your hybrid keep its variegated color, you’ll want to remove these leaves the moment they appear. Cut them as close to the base of the plant that you can.
How to Choose Your Phormium
With so many phormium varieties to choose from, there are many things to consider when making your selection.
– How big do you want it to get?
– What color would be best?
– Can I even find it?!
When I work with a client, I’ll bring at least one of each plant we are going to use (ones that I know we can get) to see how the plants look together. And to see what plants the client really likes.
Phormium has always been a favorite. I often use two types in a large garden. We will choose one variegated phormium and one dramatic and dark phormium with little to no variegation.
Phormium adds architectural structure and year-round color, while being very versatile. It can be a specimen, planted in twos to frame, or mass planted. While drought tolerant, it has a lush look.
There are numerous variegated cultivars to choose from and it makes a big difference to make sure you’re planting the best one for your garden.
You want to take into account the size the New Zealand flax is going to get, as well as the color and striations of the sword-like leaves. Then you should consider the form – do you want an upright plant or a more relaxed one?
In the photo above, a semi-arching colorful phormium is a focal point in a sea of green – with that splash of yellow. The plant’s height and gently arching leaves look lovely perfectly balanced.
In the image above, the form of the New Zealand Flax adds structure and creates the focal point in this garden of greens and yellows. This upright flax looks a little out of scale in the garden, a medium sized phormium with yellow might have been a better choice.
I am not a big fan of massing. Take a look at the photo above. When you have a bunch of phormium grouped together like this, it starts to look messy. It makes a stand-out plant look boring.
4 Basic Tips for Planting Phormium
1. Believe! Believe the plant will get as big as it is said to get. It might not, it takes the right situation for a plant to reach full height and width, but you should assume it will. (Unless it is in a planter, when it often will not.) So pick the right sized phormium! You cannot top (cut the tops off) these long pointy leaves.
2. Be careful if you mix varieties. Mixing the colorful phormium varieties can look both busy and like you made a mistake and bought the wrong plant. The right color in the leaves can be an eye-catching contrast or a smooth consistency. Picking the right color of phormium is very important.
3. Give it room. Phormium does not look as good when it needs to be pruned back. An upright New Zealand can be narrower than an arching variety. Some people value the upright quality over the arching, finding the latter less elegant than just floppy and droopy. So, pick the right shape.
4. Be in the right zone, man. This means the right climate for this plant. Phormium won’t like it too cold. In general, the more upright phormiums are hardier.
Get Crafty With Your Phormium
Looking for a quick basket making project? Look no further. The name Phormium derived from the ancient Greek word, Phormos, means wicker basket or mat.
While we can truly enjoy New Zealand Flax in our garden, the plant has a rich and useful history. The Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, used this plant as a raw material for clothing, homeware, medicine, food gathering, fishing and hunting. To learn more about this history—and to learn to weave flax and make that basket—visit this site.
Fantastic Phormium!
Whether you’d like to add the yellow of the medium sized and gently arching Phormium ‘Yellow Wave’ or the pinks of the upright and large Phormium ‘Sundowner’, or the dramatic darkness of the petite but powerful Phormium Platts Black, phormium is fantastic fun in the garden.
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