Abstract Measurements of the timing and amount of budbreak and flowering in ‘Hayward’ kiwifruit were made over 4 years in six regions of New Zealand. There was a large variation in the vine attributes measured. The number of flowers produced/winter bud varied 5‐fold between the worst site‐year combination and the best. The time of 50% budbreak varied by 32 days and the time of 50% flowering by 25 days. The proportion of flowers on the distal (tip) two buds ranged in a single year from a low of 10% at one site to > 65% at another on canes which had an average of 21 buds. The number of flowers/winter bud is considered to be made up of four components: the proportion of budbreak, the proportion of floral buds, the number of inflorescences/floral bud, and the number of flowers/ inflorescence. The proportion of budbreak and the proportion of floral buds were found to be most important in determining the number of flowers produced/winter bud, and both of these components were significantly higher at the cooler,...