Re: divide phormiums

What time of year - spring, summer, autumn, winter - would be the best time to divide phormiums?


Robin Corwin
Studio City, CA (near L.A.)
Zone 9/10
Sunset Zone 23


From: Tony and Moira Ryan <tomory@xtra.co.nz>
Reply-To: tomory@xtra.co.nz
To: Mediterannean Plants List <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Subject: Re: divide phormiums
Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2004 19:46:00 +1200

Nan Sterman wrote:
Anyone got any pointers on dividing phormiums?

And have you seen 'Dark Delight?' It is scrumptious!

Hi Nan
Tony and I reckon ourselves experts on this since a time, about twenty five years ago we uprooted an enormous specimen from the garden I worked in where it was surplus to requirements and divided it up to plant as an edging along a a newly-built glider strip. We were much younger then of course and had the help of another man and our youngest son who was then around fifteen. It was as I mentioned a large plant, one of the very early cultivars of P.tenax with some yellow variegation in the leaves
which were around six or seven feet high.

The first thing to do was to lever the whole thing out of the ground with its numerous strong yellow roots more or less intact, which took the best part of an hour and a lot of heaving on a crowbar, together with the use of a mattock to loosen the roots.

Then came the dividing, with more crowbar work to force the fans apart. With a very strong plant like this, as we wanted a maximum amount of planting material we aimed to divide it into individual fans, but with some of the smaller and less robust modern varieties you might do better to make clumps of two or three divisions. I doubt that you would need a crowbar either for the separation. Most probably the traditional back to back forks would do the trick. In general NZ flaxes divide very easily and there is no need to try and keep soil on their roots as you lift them. Cut back most of the leaves by about half, leaving whole only the youngest two or three, much as you would do with something like a bearded Iris division. Replant as soon as possible and keep well watered until re-established.

When replanting the rule with single fans is, according to Maori lore, to plant them with the puku (belly) in the sun. (If you look at a fan you will see it has a distinct curve towards one side). If you are planting clumps of more than one fan I guess you should realize that new growth will be strongest on the sunny side and arrange them accordingly.

And, yes Dark Delight is indeed very striking.

Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.     Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES ADDED 4/Feb/2004


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