Grow Unusual and Exotic Yucca Plants from Seeds

Stan Shebs: Wikipedia

JB101 Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata)

A small, short trunked or often trunkless Yucca with very hard, thick, bluish, deeply concave leaves. It is widely distributed over northern Mexico and the southwestern United States and is found in mountain areas up to 7900 ft. It is extremely hardy to frost and considered to possibly being the hardiest of all trunked Yucca. Slow but easy to grow and very ornamental.
Most yuccas have dry hard fruits, but the fruits of banana yucca are fleshy and succulent. They look roughly like short fat green bananas, thus the name. These fruits were a traditional food of the Apache and Navajo. They were prepared by roasting or baking, stripping out the seeds, pounding the remaining flesh into a pulp, forming the pulp into flat cakes, and sun-drying them for later use.
The resulting product is said to be nutritious, sweet, and delicious. The fruits were often picked before maturity and ripened off the plant to keep wildlife from eating them before they could be harvested
Hardy for zones 6-11.

LET481 Adam’s needle ( Yucca filamentosa )

Also known as bear grass, weak-leaf yucca, Adam’s needle looks a little like a small palm, but is actually more closely related to the lilies. The leaves of Adam’s needle are strap-like, about an inch wide and up to 2 or 3′ long. The leaves are basal; that is, they all originate from one point, taking the form of a rosette. The margins of the leaves are decorated with long curly threads or “filaments” that peel back as the leaf grows, eventually dropping off on older leaves. The inflorescence is very showy and borne on an erect spike up to 12′ high. The individual flowers (up to several dozen) are white and about 2″ long. The plant dies after flowering and fruiting, but produces lateral buds that start new plants around the edges of the original.
Light: prefers full sun, but will tolerate some light shade.
Moisture: average to dry soild – drought tolerant.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 6-10.
Use in mixed borders and natural areas. Excellent in rock gardens and as an accent among other perennials. Can be grown in outdoor container.

3383 Soapweed Yucca ( Yucca glauca )

This clumping evergreen shrub with narrow leaves produces a startling, 3- to 4-foot-tall flower stalk. The fragrant flowers are pale green or greenish white. It is a tenacious plant in areas of the American West, but adds a touch of the desert to gardens. Soap can be made from its roots and the foliage is used in basket-making.
It is deer resistant, drought tolerant and makes a good bedding plant for rock gardens or xeriscapes. Best suited for zones 4-8.

SF230 Blue Yucca ( Yucca rigida )

A stunning slow-growing tree-like yucca with upright stems of minimal branching to 12 feet tall that have attractive 3 foot long by 1 inch wide, stiff, slightly waxy, pale silver to whitish gray leaves that have narrow yellow margins and are tightly clustered to form dense rosettes on top of the stems.
The old leaves fall off leaving a fibrous soft gray covering on the trunk. Large clusters of white flowers hang downward along the upright stout spikes that rise from within the crowns 2 feet or more in late spring. This yucca performs best in warm sunny areas with good drainage and occasional to infrequent summer irrigation.
It is noted as preferring alkaline conditions and is hardy to around 0°F.
zones 7-10.

Z1495 Red Yucca ( Hesperaloe parviflora )

This wonderful desert plant attracts humming birds and butterflies, is deer resistant and works extremely well in xeriscapes.
This plant’s tapering leaves grow from a central crown to produce a clumping effect. It goes well in a desert landscape with plants like agave, aloe, and yucca, which have similar form. Coral-pink flower spikes provide attractive color from spring to late summer. Tolerates drought and poor soil.
Hardy to zone 7.