SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS first planted Phormium en masse about a century ago, and with good reason: Those spiky leaves -- long and linear, a muted green that seemed custom-made for this landscape -- were ...

One of the more beautiful varieties is the Sundowner New Zealand flax (Phormium 'Sundowner'). Sundowner has upright arching long strap-shaped leaves. The leaf coloring is quite stunning and unusual, a ...

New Zealand flax, Phormium tenax, is practically a bum in our area: ubiquitous, homely, sometimes obtrusive and abrasive, a conspicuous surviving castaway in tough neighborhoods from gas-station ...

The cold, harsh winter massacred practically every New Zealand flax (Phormium), leaving them ugly, brown and bent over. Although there's no way to know for sure, chances are good that the root system ...

Rene Orchiston of Gisborne started a harakeke (flax) collection in the 1950s, after observing that many fine craftswomen in her area were using inferior material for their weaving. There was an ...

Expert weaver Cassandra Moar says it's a special connection when she meets mothers who have used wahakura waikawa, woven bassinets, which she has woven. Photo / Michael Cunningham In the front yard of ...

Growing flax for fiber to spin into linen requires many steps. Once it is harvested and the seeds removed, it needs to be retted. Retting flax is the process of freeing the flax fibers from between ...