Where abouts in a west coast zone 8 are you located? Phormiums are not uncommon plants pretty much anywhere along the west coast and I'd have a hard time imagining too many of the local larger retail nurseries not carrying a good selection......you can even find them at my local HD!! One caveat, however :-) I'd suggest that rather than looking for very specific cultivars - which may not be all that readily available - take advantage of whatever cultivars offered that fit your requirements. Phormiums are really only borderline hardy in zone 8 and if you live in the PNW zone 8 with our routinely wet winters coupled with a good arctic blast or two, it is unusual to find phormiums surviving more than a couple of seasons. In fact, a good many PNW nurseries now treat them as more or less seasonal plants. It would be a shame to invest too much $$ into a lot of different and hard to find phormiums to not have them survive for very long. FWIW, I have never seen phormiums offered bare root. Not a common sales method for an evergreen plant :-)

Jocque, No leaf die back. These are evergreen plants through winter here. Putting them in your cellar is a good idea to over-winter in your zone 5 area, however they'll need decent light. Like most other things during this time, reduce watering. Criag W, Not all of Nanaimo is 8b. Here, terrain plays an important part as well as proximity to the ocean. Some areas such as Departure Bay, Hammond Bay, Stevenson Pt., Downtown waterfront, Protection Island etc are reliably zone 8b. Many other areas can on occasion, experience an 8a winter. These periodic 8a regions can get much more summer heat. Many times the difference is less than a half a mile! Cheers, Barrie.

There was no frost at all in January in Portland and then February had below 20* temps. I am still seeing Trachycarpus and Phormium around town. Not noticing death or damage. Just drove past three taller than 10' windmill palms yesterday. They looked fine and were in an open location. I had a early blooming Rhodie suffer frost bite on all buds and new leaf tips are damaged too. I am worried about a couple hardy fuchsias planted in the fall and not properly mulched. The rest are showing growth from the roots. My newly planted (late summer) Hebe 'Red Tip's all made it with no protection. I was actually in Seattle on business when the Arctic Blast hit. I am not one who pushes the climate envelope so my experiences aren't that useful to those who do but I was just mentally commenting on Phormiums and Trachycarpus yesterday after seeing healthy ones. I grew up and learned to garden in a warmer climate so I enjoy growing the typical Northwest plants here. Whenever I've pushed the climate envelope Escallonia, some Hebes, Pittosporum, they have failed. Eventually we get a really cold winter.

Don't recall seeing any Phormium locally, but are available from Forest Farms and other on-line/mail retail nurseries. Nolina texana can look very nice in containers. Though not sure it will thrive in full sun in north Texas. Also will eventually become too broad to grow anything around it's base in a 24" pot. Other options that come to mind are nassella tenuissima (Mexican feather grass) and muhlenbergia capillaris (gulf mulhy) which should both do okay in full sun here. Here is a link that might be useful: Phormium at Forest Farms