Plant in full sun to light shade. Can tolerate fairly dry conditions (coastal) but looks best with occasional to regular irrigation. Cold hardy to 15-20° F and possibly root hardy below these temperatures but with severe foliage damage unless protected. A great plant to use with contrasting colored foliage.

Phormium 'Dark Delight' was introduced by Ms. Margaret Jones of Tauranga, New Zealand in 1979 and in our opinion is the best of the medium sized dark New Zealand Flax hybrids. It is similar but smaller and slightly darker than the magnificent Phormium 'Wildwood'.

We first received plants of this cultivar from New Zealand Flax Hybridisers in 1983. Unfortunately, we accidentally sold off all of our stock on this plant in 2007 and were never able to replace it with what we thought was the true clone of 'Dark Delight'. In its absence we propagated and sold seedling from our garden planting of this great plant and sold it as "Dark Delight Seedlings" and these were very close though not identical to the parent cultivar. For more information on the history of cultivation of New Zealand Flax and the story of our introduction of the new hybrid cultivars such as this plant into the US, see our New Zealand Flax Page. 

Information displayed on this page about Phormium 'Dark Delight' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.