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| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Agavaceae (Agaves) |
| Origin: Europe, Southern (Europe) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: White |
| Bloomtime: Spring |
| Height: 12-16 feet |
| Width: 6-8 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F |
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Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies' (Big Bend Yucca) - A beautiful blue gray selection of the slow-growing tree-like yucca with upright stems and beautiful gray blue narrow foliage. Although it can branch, it is most often seen with a single trunk, that can grow to 12-15 feet tall. The 2 foot long, stiff, slightly waxy, pale bluish-green leaves with yellow margins, form a dense rosette on top of the stems. The old leaves fall off leaving a fibrous soft gray covering on the trunk. Large clusters of white flowers bloom appear on yellow orange colored stalks that rise above the foliage on mature plants in late spring. It performs best in warm sunny areas with good drainage and occasional to infrequent summer irrigation. It is noted a preferring alkaline conditions and is hardy to around 0°F. We have found that gophers are fond of this plant and will tunnel right up the stem - must be yummy! This seedling selection was made by Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery in Oregon from one of his collections in the early 1990's in northern Mexico - it was selected out of a seed batch of stunning blue-leaved plants. The species naturally inhabits western Texas and northern Mexico in the states of Chihuahua and Coahuila where is can be found on rocky slopes and ridges. The specific epithet "rostrata" means "beaked" in reference to either the shape of the flower buds or appendages on the fruit. This has given this plant the common name of Beaked Yucca but it is also called Silver Yucca or Big Bend yucca for the region in Texas where it is commonly found. The indigenous people of this area also called it Soyate and Palmita. We first learned this as Adam's Yucca for an enterprising nurseryman in Texas who was shipping specimen size plants bare root into California, many of which ended up gracing the front of high end stores such as Nordstrum's, giving rise to another common name of Nordstrum's Yucca. It is sometimes confused with Yucca rigida which has stiffer leaves that are more bowed in cross section compared to the flat leaves of Yucca rostrata. Though the tip of this plant is fairly sharp the lack of stiffness in the leaves makes this plant less dangerous than most others of the genus. A test once offered up in a succulent forum jokingly noted that one way to tell the difference between Yucca rostrata and the similar Yucca rigida was to hold your hand a few inches away from the leaves and shoved hard towards the leaf; if the leaf went through your hand it was Y. rigida, if not it was likely Y. rostrata.
The description above is based on our research and observations of this plant growing in our nursery, in our own garden and in other gardens in the Santa Barbara area. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who has additional information about this plant, even if they disagree with what we have written.
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