Redflower False Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) / aka: Yucca Roja (Red Yucca), Texas Red Yucca, Samandoque, Coral Yucca and Hummingbird Yucca.
DG Plant Files listing: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31558/
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I'll send at least 10 seeds if you send an self-addressed envelope to me with 59¢ in LOOSE POSTAGE (U.S. postage only). I will provide bubble wrapping to protect the seeds, however bubble envelopes are always welcome! Please remember to indicate which seed offering you are responding to!
If you are outside the U.S. and use PayPal , contact me - we can work something out about the postage.
Red yucca, a slow growing evergreen, clump-forming, perennial that grows to 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide (wider under optimum conditions) is a native of Chihuahuan desert of west Texas, extends into central and south Texas (Rio-Grande area) and northeastern Mexico (Coahuila).. It natively grows in gravelly limestone soils with fast drainage and usually inhabits rocky slopes, valley slopes, canyon areas, prairies and mesquite thickets. Red yucca is adaptable to a variety of soils and to most of the eastern USA as well. It is cold hardy to -20° F (USDA Zone 5). In cooler areas, it grows best when placed in a hot spot like a south-facing wall where it can get reflected heat. While it will tolerate partial shade or light shade if the soil has adequate drainage, it blooms best in full sun. It is drought tolerant, but grows better with supplemental irrigation during a long, hot summer. Be sure to not overwater it.
Red yucca is not a true yucca at all, but is related to the yucca species. It forms a grass-like mound from a rosette of narrow, hard, long, narrow, pointed blue-green leaves. The arching blades resemble rolled grass and have curly threads along the edge of the blade margins. In the winter, the leaves may become a plum color. Unlike the yuccas, red yucca has no thorns. In its naturall setting, deer browse the foliage.
From April through August, the red yucca produces narrow, tubular, inverted bell-shaped, 1.25 inch long rosy-red to salmon-pink blooms on racemes which occur on arching, wand-like, pink 40 to 50" stems. The blooms open from the bottom of the raceme upward. (There is a cream to yellow blooming variety as well). The blooms attract hummingbirds and bees.
The green, ping-pong ball sized, multi-chambered seed pods turn a tannish brown color when dry. The seeds are flat, black and about 9–10mm long by 6–7 mm wide. These seeds should be soaked for 24 hours before planting to encourage faster germination. The plant also may be propagated by dividing the offsets from the base of the mother plant.
Red yucca is widely cultivated in arid and semiarid regions serving as a median plant and/or a roadside plant as well as a landscaping element. It is a great container plant and is a good choice for pool areas and pathways. It may be used as a solitary accent plant, in mass plantings or with various cacti in rock gardens to create a desert-themed landscape. If planting it, be sure that it is not next to plants that need a lot of water. It requires miimal maintenance (removal of spent flower stalks and dead leaf blades) and has no serious pest problems.
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This message was edited Dec 9, 2008 3:27 PM
