Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'
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Tried and True Recommended by 3 Professionals
Common Name: Adam's needle
Type: Broadleaf evergreen
Family: Agavaceae
Zone: 4 to 10
Garden Location: U.S. Bank City Garden
Height: 3 to 6 feet
Spread: 2 to 3 feet
Bloom Time: June to July
Bloom Color: White
Bloom Description: Creamy white
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Flowers: Showy Flowers
Leaves: Colorful, Evergreen
Wildlife: Attracts Butterflies
Tolerates: Dry Soil, Shallow, Rocky Soil, Drought, Air Pollution, Deer, Rabbits
Uses: Erosion Control

Culture

Easily grown in light, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerant of poor, sandy soils. Surprisingly tolerant of part shade.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Yucca filamentosa, commonly called Adam’s needle, Spanish bayonet or yucca, is a virtually stemless evergreen shrub (though it looks more like a perennial than a shrub) that is native to beaches, sand dunes and fields from South Carolina south to Florida and Mississippi. ‘Color Guard’ is a gold-centered variegated form. It features a basal rosette to 2-3’ tall and as wide of rigid, sword-shaped, spine-tipped, leaves (to 30” long and to 4” wide) with green margins and striking creamy gold centers. Long filamentous (as per species name) curly white threads are found along the leaf margins. In late spring, a flowering stalk rises from the center of each rosette, typically to 5-6’ tall, bearing a long terminal panicles of nodding, bell-shaped, fragrant, creamy white flowers. Fruits are elliptical dehiscent capsules.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems.

Garden Uses

Borders. Dry garden areas. Dry slopes. Adds architectural height. Also may be grown in large containers. Interest in yuccas for the home garden has been somewhat tempered in recent years by a proliferation of commercial plantings in such areas as parking lots of fast-food restaurants.

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