Phormium 'Duet'

Lovely flower .I love the flower on these I have one had it now for 5 years not once has it flowered, I was told by the lady who sold it me in Cornwall its a New Zealand rope plant, as they make rope from it, How long did it take this one to flower.

I saw one in someones garden today in flower - never seen one flower before. Wonder how long I will have to wait?
I know what you mean about the leaves Andrew, hmmm quite annoying.

Morgana - this one was planted in 2000 so it has been a bit of a wait. But some varieties flower quite readily and others are reluctant; positioning also makes a difference. I planted two in 1991 - one in the front garden was south facing against the house and flowered most years (it had 11 spikes one year), the other wasn't in such a warm spot although it still got a lot of sun and it only flowered once, in the hot summer of 2006 (when the flower spike was over 12 feet tall!)
The common name for them is New Zealand flax due to the fibres in the leaves (which were used by the native Maoris)

Thank you Andrew mine is placed where the sun goes mostly , I will just sit and wait. My son has one that is dark green leaved but mine is a lighter leaf that is varigated are these the same would you know?

There are lots of phormiums with different coloured leaves but most, if not all of them, have been bred from two species - P.cookianum and P.tenax. I'm not sure what the difference is or which is more likely to flower in the UK, I think some varieties seem to flower quite readily and some don't

Thank you for the info much appreciated