Phormium tenax Evening Glow - New Zealand Flax

Phormium tenax 'Evening Glow' is a remarkably colourful variety of New Zealand Flax. Its bold silhouette, in a large slightly flared clump, its long pink leaves, sometimes tinted with green and strongly edged with purple – everything about this plant evokes sun-drenched heathlands and the salty wind of its country of origin. This quite fantastic colour intensifies under the summer sun, offering a particularly exotic aspect to the garden throughout the year. Phormium tenax plants are adaptable but not very hardy, especially the dark-leaved forms. Their use and chosen location must be carefully considered due to their significant growth and assertive personality. They are easily cultivated in a large container for overwintering in cold climates.

The 'Evening Glow' New Zealand Flax belongs to the Agave family. It is a very beautiful variety derived from Phormium tenax, the largest and hardiest of the two New Zealand species. More adapted than P. cookianum to occasionally dry soils once well established, P. tenax is a widely spread plant in its country of origin where it colonises various environments and soils. This superb rhizomatous perennial develops in a large non-spreading clump composed of multiple rosettes. Each rosette consists of a bunch of folded leaves, imbricated in each other, forming perfect fans. With an upright and bushy habit, it reaches 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) in all directions, depending on the growing conditions. The leaves are wide, up to 6 cm (2.4 in), slightly arched, very long, leathery, pointed at their tips, with a pink colour bordered with purple in summer, and more tinted with green and bronze in winter. Flower stalks at least 3 m (9 ft 10 in) tall appear from May to July, depending on the climate, overhanging the foliage clump. They are green tinged with purple and bear curved tube-shaped flower spikes that turn bright red when ripe. This nectar-rich and honey-producing flowering attracts certain birds and numerous pollinating insects.

This Phormium is a plant of great ornamental value, suited for large beds or large rockeries in mild climates. Used as a specimen or planted in groups, it structures the space, its pink and red foliage combining well with the silvery bushes of artemisias or Pachystegia insignis Daizea. Like tall grasses, it is also a wonderful perennial for a modern garden with clean lines. In cold regions, it can be planted in a very large pot on the terrace or balcony, to admire its grandeur during the beautiful season, and overwintered frost-free in a cold greenhouse or a minimally heated conservatory. In an urban garden, it softens concrete structures and stands out majestically against a gravel mulch. For an exotic and contrasting ambiance, it can be associated, for example, with Leptospermum scoparium, a pink to red ball-shaped flowerer in summer, Helichrysum rosmarinifolium 'Silver Jubilee', or even with Olearia macrodonta 'Major', plants also originating from Oceania, which are similarly pefect for coastal areas.

The Maoris use Phormiums as we use flax, for their fibres which are exploited in the textile industry. This quality probably explains the vernacular name of 'New Zealand Flax'.