Adam's Needle (Yucca filamentosa)

Adams Needle occurs in much of the eastern third of the US, and when you see it, you know you are in a pretty dry place. A member of the Agave family, it thrives in full sun and dry, very well-drained soil. Adams Needle forms 2&½ ft. evergreen clumps of sword-like, radiating, glaucous leaves that have thread-like fibers along their edges. In mid to late summer, large, showy, cream white flowers appear on 8' tall flower stalks. Not only is it bold and strong in texture, it is also a strong grower. Plant it where you want it because it is tough to kill. It would be very effective as a focal point, in groups, in an island planting, or in a rock garden where it is sunny and dry. It is also very urban tolerant and could be useful in blazing hot parking lot beds.

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Zone 5a

I grow these in full sun.
The bloom spikes are huge and very eye-catching. The blooms last a long time.
They enjoy my sandy soil and don't need any extra watering.

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The Adam's-Needle Yucca has a native range mostly in the sandy coastal plain of Long Island and New Jersey down through most of Georgia & Alabama through central Florida and a good part of Mississippi & Louisiana and then some spots in southeast & south central Pennsylvania and spots in the Appalachians southward and various spots in Kentucky in dry sandy meadows, rocky slopes, pine barrens, and beach & dune areas. It is a rosette of erect and bending sword-like leaves of coarse texture in a clump about 3 feet high that can hurt if touched wrongly, though it is not as prickly as most other species of yucca that can actually be sort of dangerous. It sends up its tall scape to 6 feet high with the bell-like white flowers in late June-July that are slightly fragrant and liked by hummingbirds. It produces a very deep, huge, white taproot and some deep lateral side shoots and it is difficult to transplant. If cut down, it keeps sprouting up from the deep taproot; not easy to get rid of if not wanted anymore. It looks dramatic in some kinds of landscapes as desert or beach or tropical style, but it is a "sore thumb" in other landscapes as it does not blend well with many plants as with birch, maple, aspen, and many fine-textured plants. It looks great with pines, junipers, palm trees, ornamental grasses, many annuals, some perennials, and some broadleaf evergreens. It is sold by most conventional nurseries, including some variegated cultivars, in the Eastern & Midwestern US. I see some planted in most neighborhoods, so it is common.

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