Phormium Bronze Baby Flax Lily

Phormium Bronze Baby is a hardy evergreen ornamental grass with swordlike bronze-brown foliage and bright red flowers in summer. It’s an excellent clump-forming coastal plant and a low-maintenance choice for dry borders or roof terrace containers.

Phormium Tenax is native to New Zealand where it grows in coastal areas and provides habitat for the endangered yellow-eyed penguins. It’s also known as the Flax Lily.

Bronze Baby is a cultivar bred to retain flax lily’s hardy nature with better ornamental colour. It has typical flax lily erect but arching strappy leaves in a rich bronze-brown shade on a mound forming clump. If it’s grown in full sun, bright red flower spikes appear in late summer. 

Flax Lily Bronze Baby is an excellent prairie or coastal plant that enjoys hot sunny borders or plant containers in low-maintenance gardens. 

Height And Spread Of Phormium Bronze Baby
Phormium Bronze Baby will reach a maximum height and spread of 1.5 metres.

How Hardy Is Phormium Bronze Baby
Flax lily does best in mild coastal locations but it’s a hardy plant if its roots are very well drained and it has full sun in a sheltered location.

How To Use Phormium Bronze Baby
Flax Lily Bronze Baby is a good choice for low-maintenance wildlife-friendly spaces because its strappy foliage provides safe cover from both hot sun and rain. Its arching bronze leaves suit Mediterranean gardens and modern urban spaces not keen on pretty flower displays.
If you have a coastal, prairie, or low-maintenance garden with a dry, sheltered border Flax Lily Bronze Baby will pair nicely with yuccas and other phormium grasses such as green and red Sundowner.
It is also well suited to growing in pots and ideal on a hot deck, patio, doorstep, or balcony.

How To Care For Phormium Bronze Baby
Phormium grass is a warmth lover that prefers well-drained or dry soil in sheltered full sun. It does not enjoy wet, soggy conditions and shade.
It can be susceptible to winter frosts, so give the roots a thick layer of protective mulch in late autumn particularly in central to northern areas of the UK.
Pruning isn’t required, but if it looks untidy, prune out broken or dying leaves in early spring to encourage airflow and sun on its clump mound.
Water well until established and be sure to regularly water and feed any container-grown specimens.