I have already dug and brought in my Melianthus. Of the three that I dug and repotted, the one that suffered the least amount of stress was the one that had produced two new branches on the lower nodes. These were about 6" long and were actively growing. I cut off the main "trunk" (which was, like yours, about 4 feet tall) and let the side shoots take over. The others did not have side shoots. One is not doing well. The tip is still alive, growing slowly, but the lower leaves are wilting and some have died. The third is doing okay. The root ball was not so big and I must have disturbed it less. These are in my sunroom, with no supplemental light. The nighttime temps are about 50F. Hope this helps. - Bev

I am not sure how well they adapt to a real test of heat and humidity like you get down south. They are native to the mediterranean climate portion of the Western Cape in South Africa, so do not typically get your high humidity in combination with high heat. They will certainly handle the high heat with dry air, but will always look better in a well watered garden with some dappled shade or morning sun. I would guess your best bet will be to give them your coolest bright shade/morning sun only spot, and to keep them as cool as possible in summer. They may in fact do better in winter for you than summer. In habitat they would go rather dry in summer, but they handle summer irrigation here in California without problem. Torrential rains with humidity might mean they are better in pots sheltered from unending wetness in summer; they might be susceptible to rotting out or fungal diseases.

My knowlege of Melianthus is that it's the nectar that is used and no other part of the plant. That's where it gets the name honey bush.

New Zealand Flax? Yes, I overwintered it by treating it as a houseplant in a low humidity 65 degree room next to a west facing window with medium light. It came through fine.