Water-Wise Gardening

California-Friendly Plant: New Zealand Flax

New Zealand Flax is sure to pack a visual punch no matter where you plant it in your garden. The sword-shaped leaves come in a variety of colors including yellow, pink, red and bronze, to give your garden color even when flowers are not in bloom. When it does bloom, the New Zealand Flax shoots up stalks that produce unique curved red or yellow blossoms that hummingbirds love.

The plant works well on perimeters or as a focal point within a bed of drought-tolerant flowers. This evergreen will survive without water, but appreciates an occasional deep soaking during the warm summer months. Seed pods will form when the flowers die in the fall, creating new plants that will begin to bloom the following spring.