Goodbye, Yucca ‘Bright Star’, and hello

Our Yucca ‘Bright Star’ (or, more correctly, Yucca gloriosa var. tristis ‘Bright Star’, formerly known as Yucca recurvifolia) lit up the sidewalk bed for five years before it flowered last November. And the flowers were truly glorious:

Unlike agaves, for which blooming is a terminal event, yuccas are perennial and don’t die after flowering. However, our Yucca ‘Bright Star’ did exactly what I had feared it would do: It started to produce new shoots from the center. Take a look:

Closer:

Over time, what once was a single rosette will become a tangled clump. Many gardeners don’t mind that look, but I much prefer one solitary rosette.

In addition to producing multiple new heads, our ‘Bright Star’ began to sucker from rhizomes––another trait that ruined the symmetry of the rosette.

And finally, as ‘Bright Star’ was maturing, it began to extend into the sidewalk, inconveniencing passers-by.

All these things taken together made a compelling case for removal. Which is exactly what I did. Using a reciprocating saw, I separated the new heads and severed the two suckers. This is the end result: three heads...

...and two suckers:

The suckers already have some roots, the heads don’t.

For now, I stuck all five pieces in loose soil where they’ll remain until temperatures drop a little. Then I will replant one piece in the same spot where the original ‘Bright Star’ had been (a little further away from the sidewalk so it won’t encroach). The others will go to good homes.

Lessons learned: none, really. Other than being prepared for yuccas to multiply after flowering and deciding whether this is acceptable to you or not. You’re the chief executive of your garden; if there’s something you don’t like, you don’t need to live with it.

© Gerhard Bock, 2023. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.