Re: Yuccas & Agaves,was Dumb Question
Janet wrote,
>The agave relative is a Beschorneria yuccoides which has not flowered
>yet, and I +will+ try to pot up any offsets it makes. Any other hints
>about keeping these beauties around will be greatly appreciated.
Much the same applies as for the Yucca Janet although growth style is
very slightly different. Certainly allow any offshoots to develop,
Beschorneria looks far better when allowed to form a good sized clump.
At my old house, I have 5 spikes at the same time - it was ravishing.
The only thing with Beschorneria is that it seems somewhat intolerant
of cold wet conditions. Oddly, my young plant came through a cool,
very wet winter without any problems only to suffer during a very wet
spell in March. Conditions are considerably different over there so I
don't know how much of this is applicable. Luckily enough for me,
although all of the leaves died including the outer ones in the
central spear, the growing point survived and now the plant is back to
its normal size. By comparison, Yucca filamentosa is extremely tough
and hardy being very tolerant of quite significant amounts of winter
wet provided the soil is well drained. Over here it is considered to
be the hardiest of the entire family.
Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK
