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Yucca's??

18 years ago

Morning All.....

Back in the Spring (before I started learning about native plants etc.) I brought a Yucca "Color Guard" which has done very well so far in its pot since I still don't know where I want to plant it!

Anyway, since then I have learned that Yucca's are native to the USA, is this correct??

For some reason I can't find any information about the root structure of Yucca's. I would assume because it is so tolerant of various conditions it must have a deep tap root. Is this correct??

I originally brought it because it is supposed to be evergreen but I have also read that they can die back to the ground depending on the type of winter it gets??

Sorry for all the questions but I am so confused, there is so much conflicting information!

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Comments (3)

Judy_B_ON
18 years ago
Yucca Color Guard is a cultivar of Yucca filamentosa, a native plant. It may or may not have a tap root, drought tolerance does not require a tap root.

The link below has some tips, it is borderline hardy in your zone so it may die back. You should plant it soon, because it will not survive the winter in a pot.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yucca
Scbnymph
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks Judy.....To be honest I'm not sure where I want to plant it! Any idea how big its likely to get??
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It is very confusing. It does look like Yucca filamentosa dies after flowering. I have seen the plant completely disappear. And thought I had lost it. But it keeps coming back and in the same spot, not off to the side. According to this article below that is not true. "All but one species (Y. whipplei) can flower many times (polycarpic) and produce side-shoots to compensate for loss of the apical growing point by its conversion into a flower bud. Yucca whipplei is the only one to completely die. It does not produce offshoots but rather sets seeds. Yucca whipplei (Our Lord's Candle) appropriately flowering at Easter in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, April 1995.(see photo) This is the only monocarpic species of Yucca and the flowers are self-fertile. Engelman placed this species in the monotypic genus Hesperoyucca but this synonym does not seem to have been widely adopted. Several subspecies are recognised, of which subsp. whipplei remains as a solitary rosette and so dies after flowering. Other subspecies spread by offsets or via stolons." Here is a link that might be useful: All about yuccas
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Judy_B_ON
18 years ago
The link I provided above says it will get about 18 inches high and three feet wide. If you need to overwinter it in the pot, dig a hole in a temporary spot big enough to hold the pot and plant it, pot and all for the winter.

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