Paul: I live in central coastal California, which might be a tad cooler than Canberra. I've had M. huttonii for 11 months (its leaves are only 3' long). I first noticed flower scapes around the end of February; flowering began mid-April, with many flowers popping successively from the terminal rhipidia for about two months. I agree with Rosalind -- with only 1 large leaf per scape (each scape will also bear several small cauline leaves), cutting back might cause the plant to abort its flowers. If the plants are a nuisance in their current location, why not move them? Or, perhaps you might figure out a way to tie the leaves up so they will look better kempt. Eventually, you will have scapes of 4' or so -- they will be straight, tall and strong, and you could tie the leaves to them. (Mine produced scapes of about 3' which made the plants look much more well balanced.) David Ehrlich