The drought - patient of yucca works is a salient , sou'-west - inspired addition to any full - sun garden .
The yucca plant is a tough perennial known for its long , spiky leafage and desert esthetic . Native to Mexico , the Caribbean , and the southwesterly United States , yucca is a showy summation to a full - sunlight garden . This flora works well in adry gardenas an architectural accent and progress to a prized container plant . Whether your yucca plant is sited in a garden seam or pot , you ’ll want to place it away from paseo to avoid uncomfortable run - ins with its thorny tips .
The leaf of the yucca plant is the main draw for growing this perennial . Its leaves come in many coloring but are most often a silvery green . you could also find variegated varieties with gold , green , pick , blue , and even pink coloring . The texture of the foliation can vary from slender , almost grass - similar fronds to thickset , broad leaves . Some yucca have thread - similar filaments that curl off the foliage ’s sharpness . Though it ’s grown primarily for its spiny foliage , some yucca bloom fascinating candelabrum - like bloom on an exceedingly tall still hunt . The flowers trace the top foot or so of the stalk in mass of white , cream , and sometimes blush pink blooms .
Credit: Lee Anne White
Where to Plant Yucca
pick out a location infull or partial sunfor your yucca plant . The most of the essence requirement is that the territory drains well . If it does n’t , the plant will die . In expanse with less than ideal drain , site yucca in a raised pitcher 2 to 3 inches above regular soil story to keep the crown and rhizomes drier . you could also establish yucca in container as a full - time houseplant or to be affect inside and out , look on the atmospheric condition .
Because of the works ’s barbed tips , yucca should not be planted where pet or people , specially kid , might by chance sweep up against it .
The yucca industrial plant is toxic to quat , frump , and gymnastic horse . If preferred proprietor opt to produce yucca alfresco or as a houseplant , they should take precaution to place the plant out of these animals ’ reach .
Credit: Lee Anne White
How and When to Plant Yucca
Plant yucca in other spring in a full - sun location . As long as the soil is well - run out , no amendments are needed . Dig a fix three times the breadth and equal deepness of the plant ’s nursery container . Put on long sleeves and gloves if the yucca has burry tips — safety glasses are a beneficial idea , too — and take the industrial plant out of the container . Rinse the potting soil off the roots . If you see any circulate root , trend them off before pose the yucca in the gob . Yucca isdrought - resistant , but for the first class after planting , water it on a regular basis .
Yucca Plant Care Tips
Because many metal money of the yucca plant are aboriginal to the most arid region of the United States , the spiny perennial is an excellent rugged garden companion .
Light
Yucca works ’ native emergence in astray - open areas with little overhead protective covering means they boom in full sun , which provides fertile flower across all specie and vivid foliage colorations in vary varieties . While the yucca plant can subsist in part Dominicus , the perennial often becomes sparse with its leaves growing narrow and leggy . Part sun also increases the likelihood of root rotting , as the soil is less likely to dry out out .
Soil and Water
Yucca plant requirewell - drain soil , or they quickly molder and die . When planting alongside other perennials , quash mate yucca with plants that need continuous water , as this is not an idealistic environs for yucca .
Native to southwest neighborhood , yucca naturally grow insandy grunge . The works has adapted to the East Coast and states throughout the Midwest , so it ’s liberal of varying soil conditions . irrespective of soil character , it must stay ironical .
Temperature and Humidity
As adesert plant , yucca is drouth - tolerant and withstands temperatures of 90 ° atomic number 9 and higher . Yucca plant also make it below suspend temperature , with desert nights cooling to the 30 ° atomic number 9 ambit . The perennial withstands temperatures as downhearted as 10 ° F in northern states . Some varieties are even known to tolerate subzero atmospheric condition .
The yucca plant grows best in low to restrained humidity . Because of its desert plant nature , yucca should never be misted .
Removing dead or dark-brown leaf from your yucca for the first few years will facilitate prevent rot in wet , humid climates .
Credit: Bob Stefko
Fertilizer
Yucca plant is a slow cultivator that endure in a relatively stark environment . Still , it benefits from fertilization a few time throughout the twelvemonth . Use alow - nitrogen fertilizer(eithergranular or liquid ) follow merchandise label teaching .
Pruning
Yucca plants in the garden do n’t normally demand any pruning except to remove a damaged or pathologic area .
Potting and Repotting Yucca Plant
Yucca makes a great container flora that thrives even if you neglect it . When potting yucca , take a container slightly larger than its existing container , and verify it has drainage holes . Fill the stack part of the way with a mixture of three part peat moss and one part sand ( or any well - enfeeble potting admixture ) . Take the yucca plant out of its nursery raft and loosen its root with your fingerbreadth . Position it in the new container at the same profoundness it was antecedently buried . Fill the rest of the space with the potting mix and irrigate the plant .
Yucca turn well with crowded roots , so you wo n’t need to repot the plant for two or three years unless it becomes too top - weighty for its container . Repot the yucca plant when water runs through the soil rapidly without dampen it — this indicates the plant has overcrowded roots .
Overwintering Tips
add pot yucca into an unheated service department or spill over wintertime in cold clime to prevent lengthy nose candy covering and lessen cold damage . body of water sparingly in wintertime , reducing watering in late summertime and halting entirely by early declension .
The stalks of garden bed yucca plants will die back naturally , as the plant put in nutrients in its roots . In particularly moth-eaten winter surround , cut foliage to the land , handle the yucca plant with 6 to 8 inches of mulchbefore the first frost in declivity , and then cover the deal with burlap or charge card sheeting . polish off the covering and mulch once thedanger of frost has passedthe following spring .
Pests and Problems
Agave plant life bugs thrust yucca leaves and suck out the juices . These half - inch - prospicient pest are easy to see and key . Several coating of insecticidal soap will remove them from your yucca plant . The desert perennial is also vulnerable to the common culprits : aphids , mealybug , andscale . These pests are treat with sprays of water orneem oil .
How to Propagate Yucca
Propagate yucca by cutting off a section of a ripe plant . Give the cutting a few days to mend , then strip off any leaves at the bottom and establish it in a container fulfil with skilful - quality potting stain or a cactus and succulent mix . Keep the propagation warm and irrigate it occasionally . Rooting will start in three to four week .
The best way to propagate an outdoor yucca plant isthrough divisionin fall . Lift a small but mature yucca out of the ground using a power shovel . With your hands ( wearing boxing glove ) , separate incision of the yucca plant and root until you have several new plants . Replant the parent and institute the division in areas that get full sun .
Types of Yucca Plant
‘Bright Edge’ Yucca
Yucca filamentosa‘Bright Edge ’ makes a substantial clump of unbending , spiny - tipped , vary farewell about 2½ feet long . The leafage are broadly speaking ring in a creamy yellow and edge with curly threads . Yucca plant displays 8 - to-10 - foot - improbable steeple of bloodless blossom that come out in mid- to late summertime . It is hardy in Zones 4 - 11 .
‘Color Guard’ Yucca
Yucca flaccida‘Color Guard ’ has beautiful foliage streak with bright gold down the center . It looks stunning year - troll and has husk of white salad days as tall as 6 feet that may appear in spring . It is hardy in Zones 4 - 10 .
Spineless Yucca
Yucca elephantipesis a variety oftengrown as a houseplant . This type of yucca plant lacks needle - similar spines and can reach stupefying heights of up to 30 feet . It is fearless in Zones 9 - 10 .
Variegated Yucca
This variegated selection ofYucca aloifoliais native to the southeast United States and arrive at up to 7 infantry tall . It is hardy in Zones 7 - 9 .
Yucca Companion Plants
Coreopsis
One of the longest bloomers in the garden , coreopsisproduces sunny yellow daisy - like bloom that draw in butterfly . Some varieties of tick-weed also bear gilded - scandalmongering , pale yellow , pink , or bicolor flowers . It blooms from early on to June 21 or longer if it ’s deadheaded .
Hens and Chicks
A favorite of our grandmothers and great - grandmothers , hen and chicksare popular once again . Darlings of today’sxeriscape garden , bowl garden , and rooftop garden , these plants are appreciate for their leisurely attention and tolerance of extremely teetotal conditions . The neat rosette manifold freely by ball carrier that work dense colonies . inflorescence rosettes die after bloom sentence but are quickly replaced . Hens and skirt are splendid between pavers on patios and paseo .
Salvia
There are century of different type ofsalvia , commonly called salvia , but they all incline to share beautiful , marvelous flower spikes and attractive , often grey - green leave-taking . On square stems , covered with often redolent farewell , salvia carry obtuse or loose spire of tubelike flowers in bright blues , violet , yellows , pinks , and reds that shuffle well with other perennials in beds and border . infinite sages ( including the herbaceous plant used in cookery ) are uncommitted to decorate ornamental garden , and young selections look each year .
Frequently Asked Questions
When grow indoors as a houseplant , yucca lives for about five years . alfresco , the plant thrives for as long as 50 years .
Many yucca have hard , abrupt spur that can puncture a soul ’s or animal ’s skin , penetrate deeply . The spines are n’t poisonous , but the wound will swell and be uncomfortable for a week or so . It ’s inexpedient to place yucca in an area frequented by fry and pets . Not all yuccas have sharp tips on their leafage . invertebrate yucca plants(Yucca elephantipes)are particularly popular as houseplants for this intellect .
Unlike many other plants , deadheading a yucca plant life ’s flowers does n’t raise more heyday . However you’re able to opt to deadhead to remove unattractive spent flowers or to prevent the organization of seeds .
Credit: Denny Schrock
Yucca plants are slow to flower . Most new plants do n’t bloom for at least the first three year . When they do flower , it is n’t inevitably in the spring when everything else is flowering . Yucca often look until June 21 . further your yucca plant to bloom by providing optimum conditions : well - drain soil , lot of sunshine , and the right amount of water .
Yucca . ASPCA .
Credit: Denny Schrock
Credit: Scott Little
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
Credit: Stephen Cridland
