Plant Finder

Description:

Wow, this is one showy plant, with its succulent creamy white sword-like leaves with green margins radiating from the center of the plant, pinkish in fall; the tall spire of nodding bell-like flowers in summer is a daring bonus, loves dry soils and sun

Ornamental Features

Hesperaloe, Color Guard Yucca features bold spikes of creamy white bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from mid to late summer. It has attractive creamy white foliage edged in green. The sword-like leaves are highly ornamental and turn an outstanding pink in the fall, which persists throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Hesperaloe, Color Guard Yucca is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Spiny

Hesperaloe, Color Guard Yucca is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Hesperaloe, Color Guard Yucca will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity extending to 3 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 24 inches. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. To help this plant achive its best flowering performance, periodically apply a flower-boosting fertilizer from early spring through into the active growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selection of a native North American species.

Hesperaloe, Color Guard Yucca makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

Special Attributes

Hesperaloe or Yucca will need to be watered during the growing season, in the Lower Columbia Basin there isn't enough rainfall during the growing season. The amount of water and regularity depends on the your soil, the wind and the heat variables at different times. Deer will eat the blooms but leave the foliage.