Phormium tenax Pink Panther - New Zealand Flax

The 'Pink Panther' hybrid Phormium is a remarkably colourful variety of New Zealand Flax, which is also distinguished by its relatively modest size. Its long, flexible, narrow leaves cascade like a fountain, creating a symphony of pink, purple, bronze, brown, and carmine red tones. This variety, hardy down to -8°C (17.6 °F) in well-drained soil, proves to be quite drought-tolerant once established. Phormiums, offering an almost infinite range of colours, are fantastic perennials for mild climates. Along with Cordylines, Callistemons, and bamboo, they bring a remarkable touch of exoticism to coastal gardens. They also thrive in large pots to be overwintered elsewhere.

The 'Pink Panther' New Zealand Flax belongs to the Agavaceae family. It is a variety derived from Phormium cookianum or mountain flax, and P. tenax, the larger of the two New Zealand species. This superb rhizomatous perennial grows in a large, non-invasive clump. Its habit is both upright and distinctly arching, growing quickly and reaching an average height of 1m depending on growing conditions, with a spread of 80cm (31.5in), or even more in fertile, moist soil. The leaves are quite narrow  (4 to 5cm (1.6 to 2in)), 1.20m (3ft 11in) long, flexible, arched, and pointed at their tips. Their colour, ranging from soft pink to salmon in the centre, is irregularly margined with bronze to brown and vibrant red, turning more brown towards the end of the season and in winter. Tall flower stalks, at least 1.20m (3ft 11in) high, appear from May to July, depending on the climate, towering above the clump of foliage. They bear curved, tube-shaped flower spikes that take on a more or less creamy to greenish hue at maturity. This flowering attracts certain birds and numerous pollinating insects.

This Phormium is a plant of great ornamental value, perfect for large beds or large rockeries in mild climates. Whether used as a specimen or planted in groups, it structures the space and adds a very exotic charm to the garden. It can be enhanced by ground cover plants such as erigerons, creeping rosemary, lady's mantle, or blue fescue grass. Like tall grasses, it is also a wonderful perennial for a modern garden with clean lines, for example, planted on a bed of pebbles. In colder regions, it can be planted in a very large pot on the terrace or balcony, to admire its elegance in the summer and overwinter it frost-free in a cold greenhouse or a slightly heated conservatory. In an urban garden, it softens concrete structures. For an exotic and contrasting atmosphere, it can be paired, 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 Olearia macrodonta 'Major', plants also from Oceania, perfect like it for coastal areas.

The Maoris use Phormiums as we use flax, for their fibers, which are exploited in the textile industry. This is probably why they are called 'New Zealand Flax' in vernacular language.