Ugly, pretty - who cares? 😉 The most important thing is that it works, right? 😀

Ugly, pretty - who cares? 😉 The most important thing is that it works, right? 😀

right on!

Good job Tim.....I should get a night picture of my stuff lit up-looks
like some kind of off world power plant or nuclear generators!

Beautiful to my eyes, Tim.

Cages a bit wider next year? 😆 😆

night picture of my stuff lit up-looks
like some kind of off world power plant or nuclear generators

Yes Jim please get a night photo.
You posted one a few years ago, and it was magical.

Barb

I like the rostrata protection. I might try that with my dasylirions in the future. 😉

I think my Y faxon is doing ok so far uncovered, I took the shop vac out and sucked all the snow out of the crown yesterday. 😆

the protection is tight..........If the fax survives It looks like I'll have to make the diameter a little larger! 😆

the shop vac is a good idea......I use a leaf blower sometimes. 8)

Great work, Tim! Why do you find it so important to protect the crowns? I figured the roots would have been the priority 😆

I haven't finished protecting things yet, but I should have been finished a month ago. Temperatures later in the week are supposed to plunge to -15 C (5 F) 👿

Why do you find it so important to protect the crowns? I figured the roots would have been the priority 😆

I'm not going to answer for Tim, but I can tell you why I do.

Cold and wet is a sure way for mold and a bacterial growth to start, and other than the roots the crown is easiest way of the plant to get rot. So if you keep the roots in well draining soil than all is left to do is protect the crown. Most of the Yucca can handel very cold temps but they cant handle the wet cold. Keep them dry in the winter and more than likely they will live.

Personaly I never want to see my yuccas with snow on the crowns for long periods, I perfer they never see snow. 😉

Hi Cameron,

I like to keep the snow out of the leaf head since it takes the snow so long to melt sometimes.........snow will slowly melt during the day and refreeze at night........this cycle will damage the south west trunked Yuccas. Y. elata is the only SW trunker I do not protect. Our excess moisture followed by cold is not good either. I would rather be always below freezing than getting rain followed by cold. Many storms in our area will be 1/2 snow and 1/2 rain......this is the worst.

Also, it appears the trunk is the least hardy part of the south west trunkers. In 2004-2005 I killed a trunking Y. treculeana. Funny thing was that the trunk died first then the leaves browned out. The leaves looked fine after winter and it slowly died in March/April. The treculeana was protected too so very little precipitation fell onto it. The temp of -8F was just too cold and killed the trunk. I always keep the old dead leaves around the trunk now.....this keeps the trunk dry and keeps the trunk warmer too.

So far I have not had any issues with root rot. I lost one Y. gloriosa to rot at the soil line but that was a sucker transplant. Ideally I like to start Yuccas by their roots.

You can see a few photos in this thread.

http://palmsnorth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=40778

I planted my rostratas in the spring and I didn't protect them and its gotten down to 14 F and we have had snow. I did dig them out and got the show off the crowns though. They seem to be doing well though. We will see what happens.

Tim.. that a good way to keep the wet off your plants 😀 I have a green Rostrata out unprotected and it flowered this summer three months after planting. Looking a bit tatty now 🙄

I like the rostrata protection. I might try that with my dasylirions in the future. 😉

I think my Y faxon is doing ok so far uncovered, I took the shop vac out and sucked all the snow out of the crown yesterday. 😆

Yucca faxon

Tim,

is that an opuntia phaecantha on the far right to the right of the yucca rostrata? If so do you know if it's a specific type. I've been trying to find one like that on coldhardycacti.com but I wasn't sure which one to order.

Hi Jeff,

that Opuntia to the right of the Y. rostrata is an O. engelmannii collected in Valencia County, NM by Mesa Garden. I don't believe they offer this cactus any more. It's suppose to be the hardiest form of engelmannii. I've never seen any winter damage on mine. I got mine in 2000? as a seedling. It stays more upright than phaeacantha in winter. My southern Magnolia is shading it too much.........most likely mine will slowly die since the Mag is getting huge now.

An older photo showing the engelmannii (on right) and phaeacantha (on left). The phaeacantha will droop more in winter than the engelmannii. Keep in mind the engelmannii looks smaller but it was grown from a seedling in 2000 and was not fully mature in this 2008 photo. You can clearly see in the Dec 2012 photo that the engelmannii is still upright while the phaeacantha is already drooping close to the ground.

<img src= >

I just noticed the phaecantha on the left, I think I like that one even more than the engelmanni. That's a really nice southern mag by the way.