Monday, October 24, 2011

Yucca, tough as dandelions!

During our dry summers it is not uncommon to see this… …in front yards all over Portland. The lawn goes dormant but the weeds do not. Little patches of green interrupt the sea of gold. Something seemed different about these weeds. Different, and yet familiar at the same time. I paused to look closer. It’s a couple of yuccas! No doubt mowed over a million times, cut back and beaten down. Not a yucca planted with love. Yet since the owner of this parking strip had stopped mowing their dormant lawn the yuccas were making a sort of break for it. Grow little yuccas! Maybe you will be noticed and appreciated for the beautiful plants you are! Your owner will dig a little lawn free circle around you and allow you to spread, then someday your tall, elegant, white blooms will make them happy they discovered and appreciated you! Or maybe they’ll just mow you down once again…

9 comments:

  1. That is cool for being such a survivor, but sad being ignored. Why not take out the lawn on hot, dry exposures? One could make them more xeric, but able to handle the wet winters, too. Imagine a mass of low, leafy yuccas as a groundcover, and a tall Mountain Yucca or Cordyline as the vertical element.

    Our highway department manages to mow or grub out every Yucca elata along I-25 as it is widened or given maintenance...and that freeway seems to be where that plant is most common in the wild!

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  2. I do wonder why so many people insist on lawns in such an inhospitable climate...especially in parking strips. That poor yucca, makes me sad to think it'll probably just get mowed over again :-(

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  3. The grass-free circle seems doubtful. Perhaps you could offer to adopt the poor waifs.

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  4. Do you suppose someone removed a large yucca there in the past? I hope they get a break and prove themselves before the mowing begins again.

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  5. Haha, funny! Like the punch line.

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  6. Ahhww, bless those Yuccas! They are so resilient and I hope they get big enough to be noticed by the owner and given the chance to carry on growing rather than get mowed again.

    Any idea what Yucca this may be? I wonder if there was a mature plant there before that was removed but several 'toes' were left behind and is coming back from there? It's a possibility!

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  7. I'd be put there with my pick axe and taking it home. Someone dumped a yucaa down our street. In time it grew a shoot which I had my eye on. The one day they came and mowed and road (no houses) and chopped it right off. Strike while the iron i hot, I say.

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  8. DD, Cordyline is a dangerous word to be using on this blog! We had several 6ft tall beautiful specimens in the front garden, which were knocked back to the ground in our first bad winter ('08-'09). They've re-sprouted every summer but never to attain any height. As for the Yucca elata along I-25 I'm just back from having traveled that route and there were some amazing ones! I did perhaps "save" one smallish plant from the highway department, it took a little tugging but I think I got enough of a root that it will live.

    scott, agreed! Drives me crazy.

    ricki, I am afraid my garden is reaching Yucca capacity!

    MulchMaid, no doubt that is exactly what happened. They thought it was gone but no doubt left enough root that it's still there.

    Nat, thank you.

    Mark and Gaz, yes this is most likely what happened. As for what it is I think it's your common soft leaf yucca, probably the non trunking type. I refer to them as "garden yucca" not terribly helpful huh?

    Lancashire rose, my mom has a similar story of yucca rescue, hers have gone on to become massive clumps.

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  9. THESE ARE THE PLANT OF THE DEVIL! THEY NEVER GO AWAY! FROM ONE PLANT IN OUR FAMILY CEMETERY, WE HAD OVER 1000! CUT THEM DOWN TODAY. LEFT ONE OR TWO. VERY INVASIVE!

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