This winter I gathered some seed from a yucca (Yucca filamentosa) and saved it. I’m not sure exactly why other than I thought it might be interesting to see how they grow. I do that sometimes, where I just attempt something for the sake of attempting it (I once planted lemon seeds from a store bought lemon to see if I could get lemons after ten years and several bouts of spider mites no lemons). I’m not even a big fan of yuccas but I know many others are.
I like the flower spikes that pop up when in bloom but something about the blade like nature of the leaves feels a bit dangerous, especially with young children around. They are very neat to look at and remind me of desert areas not only for their appearance but also for their drought tolerance. Anyway I decided to try my hand at propagating a few through seed.
I planted a large flat of 9 packs with about 54 seeds. I figured if I ended up with too many extras I could always give them away. I planted the seeds then left them on my back deck for several weeks. I watered them once or twice (when I thought about it) but rarely paid them any mind. I was almost ready to throw in the towel on the yucca seeds when I spotted a few little leaves coming up this morning. So far the seedlings only number four but I suspect that more will be coming up soon.
The first picture shows the tallest yucca while the bottom picture shows 2 others that sprouted. I’m interested in seeing how fast the yuccas grow into full size flowering plant so I’ll revisit them for occasional for updates on their progress.
Think Ahead About the Spring Garden – Create a Garden Schedule
We’re still in the middle of winter and the weather outside is bitter cold as I’m writing this post but that doesn’t mean gardening should be out of your mind. Now is the perfect time to get your garden plan together for 2016 so that…
California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica)
Last year I bought a packet of California poppy seeds. I planted the poppy seeds in the fall just like I do my red corn poppies and here they are now. The blooms are bright and nothing short of spectacular. The foliage isn’t too shabby…
How to Grow Buckeye from Seed (Aesculus pavia)
A couple years ago I bought a fantastic native plant at a local native plant nursery. It was a red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) and is great for attracting everyone’s favorite tiny garden visitor, the hummingbird. The flower clusters are red (you probably expected that from…
How to Save Seeds from Redbud Trees
Fall is a great time of the year for seed saving. Our plants have spent their time over the summer building up energy to produce seeds which will one day sprout, grow, and create new plants. Seedlings are essential to the diversity of a species….
How to Fix Leggy Seedlings
One common issue many gardeners have when starting plants from seed is legginess. This is a problem that is normally a result of not enough light and is easy to fix! My current batch of tomato and pepper seedlings is showing signs of legginess and…
How Heucheras Begin (Starting Heuchera Seeds)
Recently I started some heuchera seeds while we were suffering through the record setting deep cold of the last several weeks. I had to do something garden related to lighten my spirits that were quickly being squashed by the weather’s entrapments and starting some seeds…
Cool Dave! I happen to love yuccas. There are lots of folks who let me dig them up and they do well transplanting so no seed starting here:)
They look good in someone else's garden. I used to have them but they eat me up & the wounds take forever to heal.
So no yuccas.
Tina,
It was just another test to see how they went. I'm debating a booth at a festival later in the year. We'll see though so many things to think about!
Lola,
The are tricky to work around! That's the same reason I'm hesitant to plant them.