Another favorite of mine is this Hungarian hybrid:

Yucca glauca ssp. stricta x baccata, made by Demeter Janakidisz, Hungary.

I find this one is much more beautiful than the 3x hybrid: Yucca (aloifolia x stricta made by Demeter Janakidisz) x baccata, made by Ferenc Kurilla, Hungary.

The Yucca glauca ssp. stricta X baccata has much more narrow leaves, and they are very blue-grey in color. My specimen is grown inside an unheated greenhouse and were received as a small seedling in 2009, I think it was planted in the spring of 2010.

Best regards

Benny

This might be my new favorite yucca. Bought as thompsoniana, but now belived too be a croos from rostrata/thompsoniana x elata?

The owner and his yucca at Plantasia Cactus Gardens.

Hello,

It's easy to understand why this in one of your favorites. How long are the leaves 3½ - 4 feet? I had a similar plant, which unfortunately died in the winter of 2009-10, 4 month under snow was too much for it.

Thanks for sharing.

Benny

P.S. I think, that I still have a one "Plantasia Opuntia" left of some I got 15 years.

Hello,

It's easy to understand why this in one of your favorites. How long are the leaves 3½ - 4 feet? I had a similar plant, which unfortunately died in the winter of 2009-10, 4 month under snow was too much for it.

Thanks for sharing.

Benny

P.S. I think, that I still have a one "Plantasia Opuntia" left of some I got 15 years.

Yes, I think about 3.5 feet long.

4 months of snow cover ouch! Not many yuccas would like that.

You are absolutely right.

The 4 last winters has been quite hard on out plants. The four winters were very different from each other, so those plants which did survive the snow pressure and the long snow cover in the winter of 2009-10, were killed by one of the following winters:
2010-11 1 meter of wet snow, which later froze to a glacier. Followed by a cold summer, with little or no growth.
2011-12 not much snow cover and down to- 17C. Followed by a cold summer, with little or no growth - 5 days above 25C and 21 days above 20C - including the 5 days with 25C!!
2012-13 very dry and with lots of wind, which did freeze-dry incredible many plants. Followed by a extremely late and dry spring, which did dehyrate whose plants which wasn't already dried out during the winter. Many Yuccas and bamboos have had to start from the rhizomes every spring these 4 years, so they are really reduced in size, and most wild species are wiped out in the garden (those in the unheated greenhouse are OK).

The summer of 2013 was OK, it arrived late, but with lots of sunshine, and the temperatures were nice too. In this part of Denmark all up to 28C one day, and many days around 25C in July, 150 km south of here they had temperatures above 30C!

During these 4 winter our collection of Opuntia is reduced with about 95 %, even forms which I have been growing since 1974 is now instinct in the garden. But this leaves us with the 5% of "Untouchables" well worth to grow here 🙂

Here is a photo from February 21st 2010:

More photos here http://www.bennyskaktus.dk/winter/2010.02.21/index.html

At this time, many of the plants had been covered with snow since late October ---- and the last snow in the garden melted April 7th. 2010! (and on the same date in 2012 and 2013)

Benny

Very interesting! You mentioned that the snow cover was occurring from late October until beginning of April last winter. And what is minimum winter temperature there?

Hello Igor,

The winter of 2012-13 was not very cold, "only" very long and very dry. I think, that the coldest were -16C and most of the time only -2 to -5 to -9C, also during the daytime (at December 21st. the "daylenght" just over 6 hours and the sun is very low in the horizon, so a sunny day does not give much "heat effect". We live in a windy area, so most snow were actually evaporating without melting. And this made the very dry spring even more dry, as there were no precipitation.
Us Danes up here in the part called Vendsyssel, usually joke and say "it is only windy 300 days a year - pause - the rest of the year it's stormy 🙂

Have a nice day

Benny

I forgot,

The reason why we get so much snow in our garden, is that we have farmers fields on 3 sides of our garden. So if it snows with just a little wind from either W, NW, N, NE, E or SE, the snow from maybe 25 to 35 hectares will end in our garden. In the snow-rich winter of 2009-10 the minimum snow layer were about 75 cm and maximum about 2½ meter. This is the thickest layer of snow in the 23 years I have lived here. The coldest winter were in 1995-96, 4½ month below freezing and in 3 weeks not above -15C, not even in the daytime - brrrrr all my South African plants an loads of other plants died that winter, on May 8th. I think, there were still 5 cm of frozen soil about 20 cm down in the peat-beds!

Benny

Thanks Benny! A reason I'm asking is an information from Dr.Rusanov book stated that Y.rigida survived after minus 24C in 1954. I have a ton of seedling hopefully to be planted outside next year... What should I expect... Our winter is as long as yours is. It's badly cold. There is a lot of snow during January-February. A plenty of sun in summer and the fall is dry and no freezing rain during the winter months. And no wind... Thanks Gosh, no wind any time of year.

Dr.Rusanov book stated that Y.rigida survived after minus 24C in 1954. I have a ton of seedling hopefully to be planted outside next year... What should I expect...

I hope they all grow well for you, but from what I have seen they are atleast a zone 7b yucca. If you find a hardier rigida that would be great.
I sure would like seed from the one that survived -24C 8)

. Followed by a cold summer, with little or no growth.

Benny

The summer here has been warm with temps close to or at 100f most of July and Aug. What I have noticed is the new growth on the yuccas have been much more blue/silver color. I wonder if this is a increase in plant sugars? And I wonder if they will do better through the winter now. 😐

Yucca schottii
Sunsites AZ

Benny....your Yucca angustissima ssp. kanabensis X (filamentosa x arkansana) BMJ #2086A is a very interesting hybrid and I can't wait to see the blooms on these with the angustissima genes in them. 8)

Here's an update from the two forms in my garden...I think 2086 and 2087. They don't appear to be super aggressive like some Yuccas in our climate can be.....the lack of aggressiveness is likely due to the angusitissima genes since this species performs very poorly in our climate.....not sure why?

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This one is being overgrown.....I need to cut that other plant back.
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Currently my favorite Yucca in my garden is Benny's Y. filamentosa x filamentosa since it looks GREAT year-round here. Many Yuccas only look good in August and September here since the snow loads beat up the leaves and they need time to fill out again.

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Another Yucca which tends to look great year round in my garden is the Y. filamentosa x glauca with it's short trunks
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Yucca elata v verdiensis is another great Yucca in my climate
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Yucca elata is great but only looks good in August and September......not as great in other months. It's very slow to break dormancy here in our climate and new leaves don't grow until late June.
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Another great Yucca is Y. filata 'Big Mama' but this Yucca is in 'full glory' only 1 in 3 years! But when it looks great it is a show stopper and I can't stop looking at it.
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PS, Yucca rostrata is great too. Nice big trunk and NO maintenance at all.
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Yucca constricta is a beauty too.....sorry no current photo.

Y. constricta x filamentosa has great looking blooms but the plants are nothing special and very high maintenance which I don't care for.

Aaron,

that Y. thompsoniana x elata hybrid is WAY too cool. I love that massive Y. shottii too.

Currently my favorite Yucca in my garden is Benny's Y. filamentosa x filamentosa since it looks GREAT year-round here.
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I thought this was filamentosa x rostrata? Whatever it is, it is just awesome. 8)