Testing Time for Yuccas
A self-confessed Yuccaphile shares his passion
for these architectural but unfriendly plants.
Marco Tiefel, Austrasse 1, 91126 Schwabach, Germany
Chamaerops No.30 Spring 1998

Look but don't touch: Yucca aloifolia - Spanish
Bayonet - with leaf tips like needles
Two hard winters in succession had a very dispiriting
effect on German palm enthusiasts. The 'Spanish Bayonet', Yucca
aloifolia "Variegata" has not survived the winter of 1996.
Though the temperatures were below minus 15° Celsius "only"
once, there were six weeks of permanent frost in January and February.
My Trachycarpus with a height of about two meters,
planted in 1990 as has been reported in Chamaerops No. 24, did not
get on much better. After the leaves had died off, I hoped for a
new sprout, but the closed leaves could be pulled out. The cold
spring and the rainy summer of 1996 as well as the autumn were of
no help. On one occasion I thought that my Trachycarpus was about
to come out again, but in the softened funnel of the trunk water
accumulated. So here is my advice: whoever thinks his Trachycarpus
lost, should immediately after the dissolution of the leaves cut
back the top of the trunk a little bit, so that the fertile cone
in the midst doesn't drown. This gives the Trachycarpus a last chance.
Now my second Trachycarpus, which has already spent the winter of
1992/93 outside, at that time with damage to the leaves at 16°C
below zero, will get its chance.
With a little trick, Musa basjoo starts into the winter:
before planting, I dug a heating cable into the ground. There is
some good news, too. Although the winter of 1997 had been cold,
too, with almost four weeks of permanent frost from Christmas till
the 18th of January and twenty nights with temperatures of about
minus 20°C, the Araucaria araucana, whose lower branches had
become brown, has kept an intact tip which has come out again. The
'Spanish Dagger', Yucca gloriosa, got away unharmed this time, despite
having been placed on the windy eastern side of the house. Did the
advantage lie in the more rain sheltered, dry position on the eastern
side or that after very cold, clear frosty nights the morning sun
could warm up the plants somewhat again? I don't know.
Yucca gloriosa has proven itself undoubtedly as the
hardiest trunk-developing variety. This variety, with a main flowering
period in June, is frequently to be found around Lake Garda, where
many plants can still be seen flowering in September and October.
Yucca gloriosa is also the most fertile of it's kind. Being left
for two to three years in the same pot, it produces so many sturdy
groundshoots that these can burst the pot. Recently found more often
in German garden-centres is Yucca gloriosa "Variegata",
a very beautiful variety with colourful leaves, that however doesn't
reach the growing strength of the original form. In any collection
of subtropical plants, the trunkless species Yucca flaccida and
Yucca filamentosa, which are also suitable for very cold regions,
should not be missed. Yucca flaccida has smaller leaves and blossoms.
A fabulous species is Yucca flaccida "Aureovariegata",
with vivid yellow parts in the leaves.
The giant Yucca elephantipes, in Germany usually offered
as an indoor plant, will of course grow much stronger if kept outside
during the summer. In the house the leaves become too thin and will
later hang down unsightly. Tests concerning the frost resistance
of this variety have shown that on plants, that have survived temperatures
of minus 6°C in late autumn, in the cool winterquarters the
main shoot can still die off. On the opposite temperatures of minus
7°C in the spring have been tolerated without any harm, which
may have to do with the increasing amount of light in springtime.
These results also apply to the colourful types of Yucca elephantipes
such as "Variegata", "Juwel" or "Silverstar".
A very special recommendation is Yucca rostrata. It
is hardly ever available on the market and large plants have a high
price. Mine is 1,70 meters high, the trunk is 1,20 meters tall with
a circumference of 40 centimeters almost evenly up its entire length.
It has a nice effect to cut back the dead leaves to an even length
as this gives the trunk an interesting pattern. The bluish, only
one centimeter broad leaves are about 40 centimeters long and form
a round crown, similar to a great Dasylirion. In just one summer
almost a hundred new leaves can be produced on each plant.
Unfortunately, very little is to be found in literature
about this variety or its frost resistance. My plant has already
tolerated minus 3°C without any damage. I hope, that by reading
this article some readers might develop an interest in Yuccas, beautiful
and rewarding plants.

|
 |
 |
02-02-23 - 11:29GMT
|
 |
What's New? |
 |
New palm book |
Date: 24-05-2004 |

An Encyclopedia
of Cultivated Palms
by Robert Lee Riffle, Paul Craft. |
 |
New: Issue 48 |
Date: 24-05-2004 |
Chamaerops
48
has been published in the Members Area. |
 |
Archive complete! |
Date: 03-12-2002 |
All Chamaerops issues can now be found in the archive:
More than 350 articles are on-line! |
 |
Issues 13 to 16 |
Date: 28-08-2002 |
Chamaerops mags 13,
14,
15
and 16
have been added to the members area. More than 250 articles are now online! |
 |
42 as free pdf-file |
Date: 05-08-2002 |
Free
Download! Chamaerops No. 42 can be downloaded for free to intruduce the new layout and size to
our visitors |
 |
Issues 17 to 20 |
Date: 23-07-2002 |
Chamaerops mags 17,
18,
19
and 20
have been added to the members area. Now 218 articles online! |
 |
Book List |
Date: 28-05-2001 |
Take
a look at our brand new Book List edited by Carolyn Strudwick |
 |
New Book |
Date: 25-01-2001 |
'Palmen
in Mitteleuropa'
by Mario Stähler
This german book tells you all about how to cultivate your palms in Central Europe. more... |
 |
|
|
|
|