Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'

Yucca filamentosa, also known as Adam’s needle, Spanish bayonet, yucca, and needle palm, is a stemless broadleaf evergreen shrub that grows naturally in beaches, dunes, and fields from South Carolina south to Florida and Mississippi. It has also spread beyond its original range into New England. This plant has a basal rosette of rigid, sword-shaped green leaves with long filamentous curly threads along the margins. The foliage clump typically reaches 2-3 feet tall. In late spring, a flowering stalk rises from the center of each rosette, usually growing to 5-8 feet tall, but sometimes reaching 12 feet. These stalks bear long terminal panicles of nodding bell-shaped creamy white flowers, and the fruits are elliptical dehiscent capsules. Over time, it can form a small colony from basal offsets.

The 'Color Guard' variety is a gold-centered variegated form with leaves featuring green margins, striking creamy gold centers, and long, filamentous, curly white threads along the leaf margins. 

This yucca grows well in light, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. It can tolerate poor, sandy soils, heat, drought, and salt spray and is surprisingly tolerant to some part shade. Propagation is easy from basal offsets.

BONAP MAP

Height: 3’-6’
Spread: 2’-3’
Bloom: June-July
Light: Full sun, Part Shade
Water: Dry, Medium
Zone: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Origin: Eastern United States