Phormium tenax Apricot Queen - New Zealand Flax

Phormium x tenax Apricot Queen is a variety of New Zealand Flax that is beautifully coloured, of impressive stature and relatively hardy. Its young leaves are striped with different shades of yellow and green and edged with red, then they become olive green to bronze, striped with yellow, apricot orange and cream. Gathered in a fan shape and forming an imposing clump, with a very slightly trailing habit. This evergreen plant offers an exotic and modern aspect to the garden, throughout the year, including during its summer flowering with upright spikes, adorned with tubular red-orange flowers. Whether planted individually or in group, this architectural perennial is ideal for coastal regions. It will also thrive in a large container, to be overwintered in cool climates.

The 'Apricot Queen' New Zealand Flax belongs to the agave family. It is a New Zealand horticultural hybrid obtained in 1985 by Margaret Jones. This superb rhizomatous perennial develops into a wide non-spreading clump. With an upright and slightly arching habit, it reaches a minimum height of 1.50m depending on growing conditions, with a spread of 1 to 1.50m. The ribbon-like leaves are wide, very long, slightly stiff and pointed at their tips. Their richly variegated colours of green, yellow, cream and rust evolve over time, taking on more orange tones at the end of the season and in winter. Tall flower stems of about 2m (6 ft 7 in) appear from May to July, depending on the climate, overhanging the foliage clump. They are green, tinged with purple, in the form of curved tube-shaped flowers, which turn more or less bright red when mature. This flowering attracts certain birds and many pollinating insects.

Phormium Apricot Queen is a plant of great ornamental value, suited for large beds or large rockeries in mild climates. Whether used individually or planted in groups, it structures the space and brings both an exotic and contemporary charm to the garden. Like large grasses, it is also a wonderful perennial for a modern garden with clean lines. In colder regions, it can be placed in a very large pot on the terrace or balcony, to admire its presence during the growing season, and overwinter frost-free in a cold greenhouse or a poorly heated conservatory. In an urban garden, it softens concrete structures. For an exotic and contrasting atmosphere, it can be associated, for example, with Leptospermum scoparium, a pink to red ball-shaped plant that blooms in summer, Helichrysum rosmarinifolium 'Silver Jubilee', Pittosporum tenuifolium Tom Thumb, or even Olearia macrodonta 'Major', plants also originating from the coast.

The Maoris use Phormiums as we use linen, for their fibres used in the textile industry. This is probably where the vernacular name 'New Zealand Flax' comes from.