Red yucca: Hesperaloe parviflora (distant yucca relative)

Full sun, well-drained soil, tolreates drought and heat when established. Cold wet soil will kill them. If you have yuccas, it should grow under the same conditions. They also do nicely in containers.

1. How fast does red yucca grow?
Depends on the climate.

2. How big do they get?
It's a big clumping grassy thing, leaves up to 3 feet long, flower spikes up to 8 feet tall. Hummingbirds LOVE the flowers. And the flowers are EDIBLE - reportedly tasting like sweet corn, and really pretty as a salad garnish.

3. How much does it "spread"?
As far as you let it :) It's a slow spreader, by offshoots.

4. Propagation: How often can they be dug, and spread apart, and replanted to help them propagate?

As often as you need to to keep it under control. Do it in late spring so it has the summer to recover.

In a casual landscape, I'd leave them alone unless I wanted more plants.

They are hardy here in southwest Colorado, zone 5, at 6,500 feet. They don't grow very fast in our shorter summers. I put mine on a sunbaked hill, flanked by a dwarf blue spruce and backed by maxamillan sunflowers. I planted some rescued yucca baccata along with the Hesperaloe parviflora. They enjoy the same kind of neglect and abuse: lots of sun and little water once established. Mine haven't bloomed yet, but I think the third year will be a charm. I'm sure yours will perform better in your longer, hotter summers. It thrives in Texas. I've seen mature plants in Albuquerque xeriscapes - and they can get quite big... two or three feet across. It's magnificent in bloom. Good luck!

There the tuffest plants I've seen lately ... the sight I manage now has very heavy clay soil .... lots of salt ... and in some spots to moist .... I've lost misquites . Leucophylums , and even Paloverdes but the "Red Yucca " keep on kicking ... perhaps a bit slow on growth under these harsh conditions ... in other parts of the valley they grow quite rapid ... perhaps thats why they are overused so much.

Need Seeds let me know .... we have white and red flowered plants ........

Good Luck ....

Since Georgia gets so much more rain than we do here in the Southwest, I bet you could get away with not watering the red yucca at all once it's established. I have one of these in my front yard and its blooms are pretty neat. If hummingbirds or bees pollenate the flowers, you'll develop some cool seed pods on the tall flower stalk. Each seed pod has tons of seeds in it.

The plants can be divided at some point after the first blooming season, when it will start forming more "extras". It tolerates division or transplanting well as long as you dig down far enough to get the roots. The hummers love it, so I love it also!

Yes, this is exactly the use I have in mind. I have a steep sunny front yard, and I have sprayed roundup on all the grass, covered it with anti-weed fabric, and deeply mulched it. I have "regular" yuccas and prickly pear doing well there. I'm interested in hummingbird photography. We only get ruby-throats here in the east, but they're better than none! I have a small area of garden I'm willing to water, occasionally, but after my plants are established, most of them will get no extra watering whatsoever. I am building terraces to help retain water, but the bottom of the yard will remain a steep dry, sunny location.

Dividing the plants will be useful because I am on a 10 year plan. The garden will be mostly "done" in 10 years. I'm trying to plant low maintenance long-lived or naturally propagating plants, with attracting humminbirds a first priority, and other birds the next.

Here is a link that might be useful: Greg Scott and R. W. Scott photographs and stuff

i have sprouted some red yucca seeds now I would like to know the next step i have put the spout in some potting soil with the seed ontop how much water does it need and do I put it under lites.any info would be appreciated

In general, if the mature red yucca is happy...it's offspring will probably be too. Put them outside.

I just received some red yucca seeds. I am in Zone 5. I was hoping for some info on how to start these seeds. Can I start them in a seed starting mix, under gro-lites and on a heat mat and then transplant outside? Do I need to soak seeds overnite? If I start them in seed starting mix...should I cover with soil or do they need light to germinate? As you can see, any help would be greatly appreciated!

,, i have been growing them where ever i have lived ... Texas, Ca, and now Connecticut ... they are doing very well here and flowering very nicely ,, just planted out in the open in a rock garden .. they bloom for months
one thing .. .. do not divide them ... they grow very slowly into a clump and if you divide them ,,all you have is little tuffs of nothing ,,,they growing very slowly after being separated .. the beauty is when you see a mature plant with several bloom stalks ... not little bunches that look like grass and won't bloom .... just my opinion ..

I have some red yuccas that I gathered seed for when I was living in Oklahoma. i've since moved to England and my mom to Lebanon. Both of us have sprouted some red yuccas and have them in pots. Mom because she only has a balcony garden and me because I don't have a good place to plant them out yet. They are 3 years old this summer and while I'm not too fussed about the blooming, my mom wants to know if they have to be a certain age before they start blooming? My climate here in England is mild and wet (surpprise) and they are doing ok. I should bring them in out of the rain really.. Mom's climate is cold but not freezing, wet winters and very hot often humid summers. She has been watering them along with other plants every other day as it's getting up between 25 and 30C now. I've advised her to water them less often. Do they like very free roots? Would they prefer a large pot or a slightly cramped pot (like cactus) Any and all advice welcome.

Regards.

I would say put the red tip yuccas in a very dry sunny location, these yuccas are all over the city landscape here in Albuquerque,they get hardly no water at all,but I think they are on drip systems,I have a few small ones in my yard,the growth is slow and they bake in the heat,the only time they get water is when it rains,and thats not too often.

I have red yucca seeds. Do i sow them in the soil or just on top of the soil and how often do i water them. I would appreciate any information.

A friend of mine sent me some Red Yucca seeds and I need to know which kind of dirt to plant them in. During the summer months I plan on keeping them outside in a large pot and in the winter since we have cold winters here I plan on bringing them into the house. Can you please help me.

I know this is an old thread, but I can tell you red yucca love south GA. I put a few in the ground and forgot about them, they multiply like rabbits and I have the flowers all summer long, on through the fall.

I planted red yucca seeds in a 3" flat with 72 slots a few weeks ago. I now have 55 sprouts that are a few inch's long. What do I do now? Should I leave them in the flat for awhile to give the roots time to grow??? Please help. I'd like a few of them to survive.