Yucca? More like Yuck-O!
I know, I know. I once felt the same way until my friend, the esteemed garden writer and speaker Carol Reese, gave me one for a housewarming gift. She said she was converting gardeners from yucca haters to yucca lovers, one gift at a time.
After living with a yucca in the garden, I have seen the light.
There are about 50 species in the Yucca genus. Their native range spans south from Alberta, Canada, to Guatemala. On this side of the Mississippi, they make themselves at home from the coastal Southeast all the way north to Maine.
There are three Yucca species native to Florida: Y. aloifolia (Spanish bayonet), Y. gloriosa (mound lily yucca), and Y. filamentosa (Adam’s needle). Our native yuccas are the host plant for the larvae of the cofaqui giant skipper and the yucca giant skipper butterflies. They also make a good nectar source for other butterflies and the occasional hummingbird.
What I find fascinating is their symbiotic relationship with their one and only pollinator, the yucca moth.
The yucca moth is a small, white insect about the same color as the yucca flower. The female moth will use tentacles to carry pollen from one yucca flower to another. When pollination is complete, she lays eggs in the flower and her life cycle is finished.
As the flower turns into fruit, the eggs hatch and the larvae eat the fruit and seeds, but not all the seeds, ensuring more yucca for the next generation. The larvae then pupate in the soil over the winter, emerging as adults in the spring.
Barring gardeners propagating yucca by division, the yucca and the yucca moth are dependent on each other for mutual survival.
What about their use in the landscape? No matter which yucca you choose, you will have a statement piece. Yuccas give your garden architectural interest. They serve as focal points. They create a feeling of drama when in bloom. These are the plants that keep your beds from looking like green blobby masses. They provide structure and textural contrast.
Though they are superior in drought tolerance and won’t tolerate wet soils, they shouldn’t be limited to a xeriscape or a succulent bed. They can even take more shade than you might think.
Now, how do we tell the three native yuccas apart, and what should we look for at the nursery?
The Spanish bayonet can reach 15 feet tall and grows on stalks. Its distinctive feature is that all the leaves are very stiff and come out at acute angles up and down the stalk without bending. They are sword-like and have the sharp leaf tips with rough edges.
Mound lily yuccas (Y. gloriosa) grow to 8 feet tall and develop a trunk-like stalk, making them look like a tree at maturity. Their leaves form more of a rosette and have smooth margins, and the outer halves of the leaves bend toward the ground.
There is an improved selection of Y. gloriosa called Bright Star Yucca that has strappy leaves with bright yellow edges that curve gracefully down. It stays short, forming a rosette only 2 feet tall. It reminds me of the Color Guard Yucca my friend, Carol, gave me.
Color Guard is a named variety of Y. filamentosa. Like all filamentosas, it also stays shorter, getting no more than about 3 feet tall. It has the growth habit of a sphere with a sunburst of green- and gold-striped leaves, ending with sharp tips. I planted mine at the end of a bed as a punctuation mark, keeping the garden cheery.
This variety can go from the cactus bed to the elegant formal landscape with ease. Consider using it instead of a ball topiary in your pedestal planter. The symmetrical habit works in a formal space. You will know you have a filamentosa because the leaf margins have filaments—long hairs—growing from them.
Two more variegated forms of the Y. filamentosa to try are Golden Sword and Bright Edge. Perhaps you want the short sphere, but variegation isn’t your thing. Ivory Tower may be the Adam’s needle variety for you.
There are reasons to give yucca a try. Maybe you’re a native plant enthusiast. Plant a yucca.
Interested in gardening for pollinators and butterflies? Yucca is good for that, too.
Need something to give a pop of color, or do you want to grow only drought-tolerant plants? Yucca fits again.
Who knows, you might be the next convert.