Finding Flax for Flower Making

Before I began weaving and before I got into flax flowers, Whaea Katie the previous owner of our wee cottage planted harakeke in the backyard.

Having all that potential just sitting there on our property is what prompted me to get into weaving. Such an incredible resource right under my nose!

It was quite the mission to get to for harvesting though – completely overgrown with a broken fence and felled apple tree in the way.

I found I had harakeke good for weaving kete whakairo; some that was ok for waikawa style kete; and some whiri kete.

But no muka harakeke. It was so elusive, I always had my knife and mussel shell on me when went for a drive just in case I spotted some muka flax. I would stop to cut a single rau and try it out for muka. In time I was able to get cuttings from the Rene Orcheson Collection at Lincoln University through Landcare New Zealand. These cuttings joined the harakeke varieties I already had here, and then I was able to organise some help to landscape and plant my Pa harakeke.

My Pa harakeke is now half a dozen years old and named after Whaea Katie who at 83 still pops by from time to time for tea and bouquets and kakahu I have made from her namesake's bounty.

While weaving flax can be hard to come by, harakeke for flowers is prolific and available in many places. Because both Phormium Tenax and Phormium Cookeranium can be used for making flowers you have twice the chance to find plantings in your back garden and community. Also talk to your weaving friends and ask them to save you the rau that are too small for whenu.

You can always gift them some of your flax flowers by way of a thank you :)
That's what pulled me back in to making flowers – after many many years as a florist, I was  enjoying a break through weaving kete and potae. I had established my Pa harakeke, and as part of the care for my cuttings I would trim the smaller outer rau off the growing bushes to help the plant put all its energy into growing bigger from its rito. The rau were too small to make into weaving strips, and so to avoid wasting any of my precious harvest – I would make them into tiny roses.

Before long, I had many tiny roses and thought I might make them into posies with a bit of gum leaves and manuka.

I sold these wee posies at the local market and viola! - I had started my flax flower production journey. I say started – because, oh boy was it a long road getting to a place of confidence in the quality of my flowers through commercial production practices and lots of trial and error. The fact there was no one available to teach me how to produce commercially is what inspired me to create a course for my future students to save them the same struggles and time investment I went through. (Our commercial Flax Flower Production module will be available in the new year!)

With that in mind, I want to share some tips with you for finding good resources to use in your flax floristry journey.  Searching your local area for materials will give you information that can help you plan which local plants would be good to take cuttings from to set up your own Pa Harakeke. Taking local cuttings will ensure successful growth as you can already see which varieties thrive in your local climate. Make notes on every bush you find.

Always observe tikanga in any harakeke harvest – there are videos in my FFS YouTube playlist if you are unsure of what this means.

Heather's Flax Finding Guidelines:
- Any flax in your backyard? If so, harvest it and see which flax flowers it's most suitable for. Get to know its qualities. If not, check your neighbour's backyard – any there? If so, ask politely if they would like it tidied up. ( of course they would!) That way you can explore its qualities and see what kind of flowers you can make from it!
- Any flax in your family and friend's yards?
- Any flax in businesses or community group spaces you use?
- Any flax at your local school or preschool?
These are all excellent places to start finding suitable harakeke.  Your priorities want to be:
- Gaining permission to harvest
- Following tikanga and being respectful – tidy up after yourself.
- Making note of where and what the bush is good for.
- Identifying potential candidates for your own Pa Harakeke.

Following my guideline, before long your flax floristry eyes will be open and you'll start seeing harakeke everywhere!

Happy Harvesting!!!