This is typically the time of the year I might tout hollies, conifers or even poinsettias, but as I was walking around a dark and dreary, rainy garden today it was a cluster of Color Guard yuccas that stood as beacons of welcoming color. If you are not familiar with Color Guard, it is the best selection of the native Yucca filamentosa.
You may be thinking yucca and native don't add up for your location, and you might be right; on the other hand, I'll bet dollars-to-doughnuts that you didn't realize that this plant, known as Adam's Needle, was native from Texas to Michigan and from New York down the east coast to Florida. It grows in 29 states, including Arkansas.
Many of us have gone to California and come back lamenting that we can't grow Phormium or New Zealand flax as they do. This will not be the case with this colorful plant sporting native DNA and cold-hardy from zones 4-10.
Color Guard yucca will reach 2 feet in height and 2 feet wide, perfect for creating garden excitement with green and gold variegated foliage and dagger-like foliage. It is an extremely drought-tolerant plant that requires good drainage. If your soil is clay or muck that holds water, then by all means improve your soil and plant on raised beds.
Though I love the green and gold of Color Guard, know that there are also great blue selections such as Hofer that allow even more creativity in combinations and mixed planters. I may be raving about the foliage and architectural aspects in the garden, but each spring to early summer, another amazing sight takes place as creamy white, lightly fragrant blooms are borne on 6-foot-tall stalks. These blooms are found to be a most delectable source of nectar for hummingbirds. As is typical of the agave family, it dies after blooming, but new pups (lateral shoots) form around the dying plant.
It is a rare week that goes by that someone doesn't ask me about deer-resistant plants. If you find yourself the proud owner of a roving herd, then rejoice, as the Color Guard yucca will not become Bambi's salad.
Norman Winter is director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens at the Historic Bamboo Farm, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, and author of Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South and Captivating Combinations Color and Style in the Garden.
HomeStyle on 12/20/2014