This compact low-growing yucca comes from the southern states of North America and Mexico, where it has been used as a fibre source and food by Native Americans, who roast the unopened flower spikes overnight to remove any bitterness before eating.
It is in inhospitable conditions, such as dry clay banks and sun-baked soil, that this yucca grows best, making it a "must have" plant for any succulent garden. Yuccas visually pair well with other plants — grasses, sedums and euphorbias — that thrive in equally unhospitable conditions.
Its sharp angles provide structure and interest in a garden and can even keep unwanted visitors at bay.
This yucca is really a sight to behold at the moment. It’s also worth sniffing the beautiful, sweet, vanilla-scented flowers. However, this monocarpic beauty isn’t long for this world, as it will die shortly after it has flowered.
At Dunedin Botanic Garden this incredible flower has been 24 years in the making since planting in 1993, but well worth the wait.
See it in the Geographic Collections Mexican border, along the driveway above the aviary then first left down the hill.
- Garden Life is produced by Dunedin Botanic Garden. For further information, contact Morgan Hampton.
