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Phormium tenax 'Merlot' - An upright growing flax to nearly 6 feet tall with 2 1/2 inch wide leaves with dark gray-purple upper leaf surfaces and silvery-gray lower leaf surfaces. The upper surface has distinct black leaf margins and midrib.
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.
Phormium tenax 'Merlot' was a selected mutation of the Phormium tenax 'Burgundy' made in 1999 by Lyndale Nurseries in Auckland, New Zealand. Some sources list this discovery to have been made by Noelyn Parr but the patent inventor designation is Malcolm Woolmore. It was marketed in the United States by Bodger Seeds and received US Plant Patent PP14,228 in October 2003, which has since expired. Confusingly there is a plant with the similar name Phormium 'Mat's Merlot' introduced by Matsuda Nurseries that has redder more arching leaves.
The information about Phormium tenax 'Merlot' PP14,228 that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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