Yucca filamentosa
Adam's needle
Common names: Eastern Adam's needle, Thread-leaf yucca, Yucca filamentosa, Needle palm lily
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Pot size
- from 20 l
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Flowering
- Jun–Aug
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −25 °C
- Water need
- Low
Photo: Sten at Danish Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The Adam's needle, botanically Yucca filamentosa, originates from the southeastern United States and is a frost-hardy yucca for our gardens. It forms an evergreen rosette of stiff, blue-green, sword-shaped leaves 40 to 70 cm long, along whose margins long, white threads curl. You can recognize it immediately by these. Over the years, offset rosettes develop at the base, and the group becomes broader. From June to August, a mature plant pushes up a flower stalk up to 2 m tall with hanging, cream-white bell-shaped flowers. Adam's needles suit sunny gravel beds and rock gardens, pair well with grasses and lavender, and also provide structure in a container on the terrace. They tolerate drought well and survive frosts down to about minus 25 degrees Celsius in our region.
Care instructions
Plant the Adam's needle in a full-sun, warm spot with very well-draining soil. Spring is the best time to plant it, as it will establish its roots well before winter. Water only in the first year and during long dry spells; later, rainfall is sufficient. Waterlogging, especially in winter, is its greatest enemy: if water stands in the rosette, the heart can rot, so in wet winters loosely tie the leaves together at the top. After flowering, cut the flower stalk off close to the ground, and in spring remove brown, dead leaves at the base. Wear gloves while doing so, as the leaf tips are sharp. Note that the Adam's needle forms offsets and has deep roots, and later it can only be removed with difficulty.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringJun–Aug
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, sandy, lean, dry
Adam's needle grows in sandy to gravelly, nutrient-poor soils, much like at its natural sites in the south-eastern USA. What matters is that water drains away quickly. On heavy loam, mix in plenty of sand or grit and plant it slightly raised on a small mound. In a container, use container plant compost with a high mineral content, such as lava granules. The pH may be slightly acidic to slightly alkaline; lime does not bother it.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Apr, Jun
Adam's needle gets by with few nutrients. In spring it is enough to spread a little mature compost on the surface around the rosette. In a container, you can feed once or twice during the growing season with a liquid fertiliser for container plants, rather sparingly. Too much nitrogen makes the leaves soft and prone to rot in winter.
Overwintering
Adam's needle is fully hardy and tolerates frosts down to about minus 25 degrees. Less cold than wet in the rosette and at the root collar is the danger. In the bed, provide good drainage and loosely tie the leaves together at the top in wet winters. In a container, place the pot against a sheltered house wall, raise it on feet or wooden battens so water drains away, and wrap it in horticultural fleece or hessian, because the root ball in a pot freezes harder than in the ground. In winter, water only on frost-free days and very sparingly.
Propagation
Methods
- Offsets
- Cuttings
You propagate Adam's needle by offsets or root pieces. In April or May, cut off a side shoot with its own roots next to the mother plant and plant it in its new place. Alternatively, in spring cut finger-thick root pieces about 5 to 8 cm long, lay them horizontally in sandy soil and keep them slightly moist until new rosettes form on the pieces. In Central Europe Adam's needle only rarely sets seed, because the yucca moth that pollinates it in its homeland is missing.
For your garden
Grow Adam's needle yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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