i have a question. How come some yuccas form into neat looking trees while others just stay small around the ground? I also have heard that when yuccas send out a huge spear of flowers that they die after ... is that true ? because sadly almost all of my beautiful yuccas did that this year.
Some species of Yucca are trunkless and others form trunks of varieing size and height. After flowering the Yucca branches out and doesn't die. Perhaps you're thinking of Agave where the main plant dies after flowering. Cheers, LPN.
hey LPN, what kinds of yucca could i grow in abbotsford that would grow a nice sized trunk ? also, can we grow and agave ?
The easiest Yucca to get your hands on that will form a trunk is Yucca recurvifolia. These aren't massive but in time and with regular grooming will form a plant about 8' -maybe 10' tall. There are others but are difficult to obtain. I've grown most of these hard to find species from seed (Yucca treculeana, Y. aloifolia, Y. schidigera, Y. gloriosa vareigata, Y. ridgida, Y. faxoniana, Y. rostrata etc. Agave ... I have A. harvardiana doing quite nicely, and several others I can't think of at the moment. Even A. americana and the 'Variegata' ssp have done well in a sheltered site. Drainage is paramount and most of mine are in course gravel. Roots are far reaching to seek moisture. Cheers, LPN.
thanks for the suggestions! there is this one house in abbotsford that had a butia capitata or however you spell that palm, anyways it was HUGE but in a very small pot over our nasty winter. anways, i noticed it did not survive the winter... is that palm too tender for abbotsford or did it just die most likely because it was not in ground ? i was also wondering do you think jubea would make it in abbotsford? we are usually at the most 2 degrees cooler than vancouver in the winter time i'd say, but we frequently enjoy much warmer daytime temps throughout spring summer and fall. at our house while the abbotsford airport records showed it hit 38degrees in the beginning of july, us and our neighbours all were seeing temps in the mid 40's on our thermometers.
