The Form of the Phormium

WHEN the garden flowers slowly begin to dissolve, evergreen plants gain the significance they lack during the days of plenty.

And if they have spiky silhouettes, as Phormiums do, they introduce a particular liveliness to the changing scene.

Phormiums, if you’ll pardon the pun, have grown on me over the years and the older I get, the more I appreciate them. As a younger man, I used to be quite snooty about all sorts of plants; in particular Elephants Ears (Bergenias) hedging Lonicera, all-red dahlias, and New Zealand flax.