Thursday 31 May 2012

Yucca Rostrata "sapphire skies"

First off, the weather people are bold faced liars - I'm sorry, I had to get that out.  They told me sunshine. I was all excited to wake up to sunshine today! I was going to brew a pot of coffee and admire my new yucca rostrata from the sun deck.  I find myself singing that song from the classic Rudolph ... "there's always tomorrow for dreams to come true."  

Anyways, I do have some happiness to report.  So when Ollie was planted, I read that you should not plant anything near the base - this had me bummed. I chopped some heuchera in half, and planted them a couple feet away on either side of Ollie and just felt wrong.  I had wanted a whole mediterranean re-do to this area.  The idea of buying a couple of yucca rostrata 'sapphire skies' had been percolating in my head for a while.  Seeing danger garden's Sammy and lil' Sanford  and all the monster rostratas at my garden mecca convinced me to take the plunge. When I found two albeit very young yucca rostrata 'sapphire skies' for a really good price I new they must replace the heuchera by Ollie.


Imagine where those iris are some sort of opuntia maybe? Some nice rock? Some black mondo grass around the rostratas to bring out the blues?

 At this size they are like a cross between cordyline australis and blue fescue grass

But hopefully they will look like a big giant blue ball of yucca rostrata very soon!

9 comments:

  1. We'll wish for some periods of hot, dry inland air to spend some time in your locale. That's a healthy plant, for sure.

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    1. Appreciated, we need all the help we can get! I hope these yuccas settle in well here. The rain the day after planting is actually kinda good. I don't have water them that way. They do look nice and healthy. That sealed the deal for me

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    2. I wouldn't put the black mondo grass under them...more dry plants. Mondo wants more water than yuccas by double.

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    3. thanks for the tip! I think that area might be really great for those rostrata. It's super sharp drainage there - besides a fresh top layer of some mushroom manure - and full sun. Any suggestions for some nice companion plants?

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  2. I hate to disagree with Mr Desert Dweller but I say do the black mondo and a few Opuntia. I have scads of black mondo around here most of which I rarely water, even in full sun. It will be fine in "our" climate. Oh and Yay for you Yucca rostrata! Yours look very happy...and Sammy and lil' Sanford are blushing at their moment of fame!

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    1. haha thanks. Sometime's you just need a little nudge in the right direction - the yuuca direction that is. I just hope mine look like Sammy and lil' Sanford one day. Do you do anything special with yours soil wise?

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    2. I just made sure that the plant was raised slightly from the surrounding ground. To encourage rain to flow away.

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  3. I'm redoing an area on the front of my house and took the top of my little Yucca rostrata right off. It has been struggling for the last two years and never seemed happy. So I'm very jealous of yours........But do plant Opuntias, they are the greatest for conversations "That will grow here?"

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    1. I don't know if this is true or not but some members of the Pacific Northwest Palm Society believe that 'sapphire skies' could be slightly tougher than regular rostrata in our climate here. They had a couple really nice plain rostrata that I was and am still tempted to pick up but nothing with a trunk which is what I really wanted. Maybe I should buy the regular rostrata just for the experiment of it all. I'm excited to find some opuntias.

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