I haven't grown these, but I don't see anything to be gained by chilling them. The suggestion is for bottom heat, gritty mix for sowing, fresh seed. Of course if you aren't finding germination, it doesn't hurt to try if you have enough seed - seeds don't always follow the rules. But it may make more sense to think about the conditions these would encounter in their native habitat when self sowing - that would be Texas and the SW.

Seeker, I looked up Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) in Jill Nokes' book "How To Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest" and will paraphrase what she said. For seed collection and storage she said to collect the seeds after the seed pod has dried but before it starts to split. She recommends you store the seed in a cool, dry place. To grow from seed: use fresh seed as soon as possible after it was collected. Sow in deep seed flats or in 4-6" containers. She stresses any container used must be at least 4" deep and must contain a well-drained growing medium. (If I was going to start these from seed, I'd likely buy a bag of cactus soil and use it.) She said to premoisten the growing medium and then press the seeds into it. Do not water afterwards. She then recommends keeping the flat outdoors in a cold frame from the time the freshly-collected seeds are collected (presumably in summer or fall) over the winter. This provides the scarification the seeds need to facilitate germination. Some seeds will sprout fairly quickly, but the others will germinate over a longer period of time. Ms.Nokes said that some growers keep the young plants in 4" pots or deep flats for the first year, or you can transplant them to larger gallon containers after a few months. Once they are about 6 months old you can move them into strong sunlight. Some growers feed them to push them to grow a little more quickly because by nature they grow slowly while young. She also said that these yuccas are only reliably hardy down to about 12 degrees and need very well drained soil. They also need to be protected from deer. Based on her description of how to grow it from seed, it sounds to me like it is a perfect candidate for winter sowing. Good luck with it. Dawn

I have some red yuccas that I gathered seed for when I was living in Oklahoma. i've since moved to England and my mom to Lebanon. Both of us have sprouted some red yuccas and have them in pots. Mom because she only has a balcony garden and me because I don't have a good place to plant them out yet. They are 3 years old this summer and while I'm not too fussed about the blooming, my mom wants to know if they have to be a certain age before they start blooming? My climate here in England is mild and wet (surpprise) and they are doing ok. I should bring them in out of the rain really.. Mom's climate is cold but not freezing, wet winters and very hot often humid summers. She has been watering them along with other plants every other day as it's getting up between 25 and 30C now. I've advised her to water them less often. Do they like very free roots? Would they prefer a large pot or a slightly cramped pot (like cactus) Any and all advice welcome. Regards.

Checked the Monrovia site while special ordering something else today and they claim to have recently shipped some to a Lowes on the north side - so might check with them if close to you. This is first time I've used their site, so not sure how well their product locator works - these may have been for a pro order instead of retail. Must be wholesaling all they can grow because it is not currently available through their local delivery site. Edit - Looks like info has been updated/corrected and currently no recent Brakelights deliveries from Monrovia in the SA area. Here is a link that might be useful: Monrovia Brakelights SA deliveries This post was edited by bostedo on Thu, Feb 13, 14 at 13:07