yuccas 78
WBM july 2012
yuccas
Yuccas are a wonderful group of plants
for the coastal zone 8 climate. Some say
yuccas aren’t true succulents (there are
exceptions in many of these groups),
yet they can survive without water for
long periods of time. They have stiff,
almost grass-like foliage. All are green
year round and all have magnificent,
waxy, white flower spikes in the summer
when not many other plants are bloom-ing.
Their blooms can be surprisingly
fragrant.
The most prominent of the local
yuccas are the Spanish bayonets, which
are practically indestructible. The stems
grow in clumps and reach heights over
10 feet. If you want security, this plant
says, “Don’t walk through me!” I once
dug up a few clumps from a friend’s
Wilmington yard and ended up with
multiple cuts to my arms and legs by
the time I finished the job. This plant
has my respect.
Other useful yuccas include Adam’s
needle (Yucca filamentosa). Look for the
filaments shedding off the edges of the
leaves, a great identifier. The plant grows
two to three feet tall and the flower stalk
shoots up many feet beyond the leaves.
The Yucca recurvifolia, the curve-leaf
yucca, has leaves that curve and hang
downward from the stem and grows to
six feet or more.
All yuccas have a coarse, striking tex-ture,
yet one of the loveliest to work into
a landscape bed is the mound-lily yucca,
(Yucca gloriosa). It has a uniform shape,
and scattering several around the land-scape
adds bold interest.
Finally, the beaked yucca (Yucca
rostrata) could pass for a palm. It’s
tall, rising 15 feet or more, has a thick,
straight trunk, and finely cut, bluish
leaves crowning the stem. A beauty.
Spanish bayonet
overlooks Banks
Channel from the
South Channel Drive
Mini Park. Bottom,
left to right: mound-lily
yucca, Spanish
bayonet seed pods,
beaked yucca.
Spanish bayonet
overlooks Banks
Channel from the
South Channel Drive
Mini Park. Bottom,
left to right: moundlily
yucca, Spanish
bayonet seed pods,
beaked yucca.