Plant in full sun to light shade. Can tolerate fairly dry conditions (coastal) but looks best with occasional to regular irrigation. Hardy to 15-20 F. Possibly root hardy below these temperatures but with severe foliage damage unless protected. Seems to resent heavy soils - plant on a rise and/or use care not to bury crown when planting. Looks a little more like a grass than a flax. Seemed like a nice plant for mass plantings or small containers but was pretty weak to not reliable in large plantings.

Phormium 'Jack Spratt' was a selection of Mr. J. Burton of Hamilton, New Zealand. The name comes from the nursery rhyme "Jack Spratt could eat no fat. His wife would eat no lean. So between the two of them they licked the platter clean". Similar but much smaller than the cultivar 'Surfer'. We grew this interesting small flax from 1983 until 2016 but discontinued it because except in rare conditions, it rarely persisted more than a few years in the landscape. 

Information displayed on this page about Phormium 'Jack Spratt' 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.