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Astelia chathamica, Silver Spear and its uses in floral art. Astelia is a popular plant at the Ellerslie flower show each year, due to its beautiful colour and long lasting qualities. See all the CDs available with photos of all the floral designs at the shows here  

Astelia chathamica, Astelia banksii 

Family: Asteliaceae/Liliaceae
Common Names: Silver Spear, Astelia, bush astelia,
Distribution:
Silver Spear is from the endangered Chatham Island astelia   It's very easy to grow, and featured in many New Zealand gardens. Tolerant of a wide range of environmental conditions, it needs protection from harsh frost - will handle occasional 7 degree frost (Zone 9), and strong winds so give it some protection in very cold winters.
                                               
Characteristics
It is a silver-leafed evergreen landscape plant which forms a clump around 1.3 metres tall and 1  metre wide with individual leaves as long as 2 metres and 10cm wide. It's an extremely ornamental clump-forming plant with flax-like leaves with an amazing satin-silver sheen. The top of the leaf has the furry silver that is easily rubbed off, so handle them gently.
Mainly grown as a foliage plant, flowers are white, and are followed by orange berries late summer.Saying that, I have never seen mine flower!

There are three varieties of Silver Spear available. Astelia chathamica and Astelia banksii both have the characteristic silver sheen to the leaves, and  both are tolerant of drought and sun.  A.banksii has a thinner leaf, and may be a smaller
grower. The third variety available is Astelia grandis. This variety is commonly
known as the bush astelia, and actually prefers damp, boggy situations, growing happily in the undergrowth with the tree ferns.This astelia does not have the silver appearance of the others, but is still a very attractive foliage plant
 

Astelia silver spear rolled and sprayed lightly gold.
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Astelia silver spear rolled through Protea in a design by Italian floral artist Carla Barbaglia
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Try using astelia in a modern horizontal design. For the free lesson on how to do this yourself, with Margaret Holmes, click here		 Astelia silver spear has to be handled carefully so you don't rub off the silver sheen. To bend it into a graceful curve, stroke it gently with a warm hand and it will slowly curve without forming an ugly bend mark.
Don't immerse the spear in water to condition it as it will ruin the silver, just  put the cut end in a small amount of water overnight and it will be  all right.
To insert into floral foam cut the end into an arrow shape so the  hard centre goes into the foam only.
To  make a curl, gently roll a freshly picked spear into a tight coil and secure with a rubber band. Leave overnight and it will set into a curl.