Okay I get it, this plant is rather hard to remove. Once you’ve planted it you’ll probably have it forever (I want to say “but since it’s so beautiful what’s the problem?”)…
It’s with this knowledge that I smiled when I saw this intense patch of yucca for the first time. There were no less than 50 spikes about to burst into bloom.
Thing is their little patch of land is also used as the trash and recycling staging for the nearby apartment building.
On trash day they get no respect! (as if they did any other day)…
Well I for one was awestruck at their impressive numbers, I wonder if anyone else appreciates them?
So beautiful...
All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Exactly! Perfect for a space you want to ignore. I enjoy seeing these little slices of ground where a yucca or agave landed years ago and now thrives on neglect.
ReplyDeleteOh if only agaves here could thrive on neglect...
DeleteYes Loree, we appreciate them down in Texas but so do the deer. They make a tasty snack for our four legged friends when the stalk first appears. I am told that the flowers make a nice snack for us too. I think they can be stuffed and fried rather like squash blossoms. WHy not give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI've often though of doing that, sadly I missed my opportunity this year (ours are pretty much all wilted) but maybe next year!
DeleteI love my Yucca filamentosa and enjoy seeing them gracing tough growing areas. It's interesting that Rock rose says Texas deer eat them. Not only do my local black tails not like yuccas, I found that a row of them makes an effective protective screen for lilies. My yuccas were relocated due to construction and the lilies were rather poorly transplanted (seriously, unimaginably bad job transplanting) so that I barely have any left, and none blooming size, but one of the first things I did when I came home was to move what small lilies I could behind the protection of the yuccas in their new home. Hopefully in a few years there will once again be blazing orange lilies peaking from behind the yuccas.
ReplyDeleteI've seen yuccas look bad after transplanting but then they spring back with force the next year, how long ago were yours moved?
DeleteMy kind of plant, though we have "a few other yuccas" in the high desert. Here, Y. filamentosa or Y. recurvifolia just needs the irrigation turned off a few seasons, and it's not there forever...
ReplyDeleteJust a few others...(which are gorgeous!)
DeleteI have the variegated variety and I'm always surprised when I see the bloom spike( like icing on the cupcake). My neighbors love it when it blooms since it blooms right by the street. I'm sorry to see the trash can lids on top of the bloom spikes. The same people probably mow down their wildflowers just before they bloom in their lawns! Maybe you could make that photo into a T-Shirt with the caption 'Ouch!' on the bottom, then wear it when you walk by. It might work. David/:0)
ReplyDeleteMy variegated bloom spikes are so much shorter than the solid green ones. Kind of odd.
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ReplyDeleteThings that make you go "hmmm"
DeleteI often admire your plants, Loree, and wish I could grow them too (in summer I'd qualify in the dryness department, in winter it's too cold) What fabulous spikes of flower! But I just checked hardiness and it seems that Yucca filamentosa is something I might get away with. Will try ...
ReplyDeleteYay! They are VERY tough plants.
DeleteThese are so impressive when you see a mass of them in bloom. Like you, I was pleasantly surprised by some last year at a post office I don't typically visit, the only vegetation around the parking lot.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know anybody ever tried to remove these, but I guess that's why they end up being the only plants in areas like these: they just come back again and again.
I so wish I could have gotten a picture without the trash receptacles...
Delete"On trash day they get no respect". They don't NEED anyone's respect, they don't give a damn! Look at them just flowering away, paying no attention to the fact they share a home with garbage. Love it.
ReplyDeleteGreat point Amy!
DeleteI love my one and only 'Color Guard.' It has one short bloom spike this year, and I'm sure hoping for more in years to come. I'm sure one reason why the ones in your post were planted there so close to the trash containers was because of how indestructible they are.
ReplyDeleteThe trash containers move. The first time I saw this patch they weren't there but every time I went back they were...
DeleteThey are perfect against the stucco background of the building, and the flowers are sublime. Now about that real trash.
ReplyDelete(!!!)
DeleteI went to a pot-luck where someone had brought fresh yucca flowers stuffed with a mixture of sweetened cream cheese and wild blueberries. Delicious!
ReplyDeleteI think this plant might be the answer to my curbside planting strip. If it can survive a dumpster, basketball should be no problem.
ReplyDelete