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Yuccas
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Posted by Brian_K z6 OH (My Page) on Thu, Sep 22, 05 at 23:04
| I see various types of yuccas all over here in Ohio, none are trunk forming from what I've seen. Are there trunk forming yuccas that are hardy to zone 6? Yucca rostrata, faxoniana, rigida, and maybe a few others have been deemed 'hardy' on some websites. Other websites say hardy to 10 degrees. What should I believe? |
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RE: Yuccas
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| Well, "hardy to 10 degrees" means the same thing as "hardy to zone 8", so you're looking at the kind of plant that might survive in zone 6 if given good protection from winter extremes but would probably be short-lived and more work than it's worth. Yucca elata's more cold tolerant than that, given that it occurs naturally in zone 7 here in New Mexico. I imagine it'd still need winter protection, but might be a better bet... the problem with Yucca elata, though is that it only grows naturally in sandy soils (or even pure sand), so I doubt it'd be happy with the kind of heavy, clayey soils you tend to get in Ohio. In short, I think you're out of luck... Patrick Alexander |
RE: Yuccas
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Here's the type of yucca I see around here. The other kind I always see is completely blue and has very wide leaves that are held more rigidly.
Any ideas what kind this is so I can look for other yuccas with similar requirements? |
RE: Yuccas
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- Posted by Rosa 4-ish CO Rockies (My Page) on
Sun, Sep 25, 05 at 10:15
Well, looks like Yucca filamentosa of some kind. There are a number of cultivars. Maybe "Color Guard"??
In any case, hardy to at least aone 5.
All yuccas really prefer very well drained soils. Believe the ones you mention will not be hardy in your zone without pretty good protection as Patrick mentions. Your moisture, especially your winter moisture, will probably be the killer.
Yucca glauca is also hardy to at lest zone 5.
They are virtually impossible to kill once established and do tend to colonize areas over time (at least the native species do).
See bleow GW post. |
Here is a link that might be useful: yucca-GW northern gardening forum
RE: Yuccas
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| Thanks for the link. I would not survive a zone 3 winter! |
RE: Yuccas
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| Brian, a lot depends on where the seed for your plants was collected. I am sure that if Y. elata were collected in one of the higher/colder/more northerly places that it is native, you would have a reasonable chance of growing it. Y. elata grows up to about 6,600' around Ft. Bayard, NM and maybe farther north in the Rio Grande valley. Y. schottii grows up to 8,200' in the Chiricahua Mts. in Arizona, but it also grows at much lower altitudes in some places. I think you ought to have luck with some of the hardier forms of these plants. |
RE: Yuccas
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| Dry winters are essential for some of the otherwise winter-hardy Yuccas, and Ohio is definitely not a dry-winter kind of place. |
RE: Yuccas
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| Kind of funny. Some people here in new mexico try to grow things in vain that would be well suited to ohio's climate (and *not* new mexico because of dryness, alkaline soils etc.) and vice versa. |
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