Monday, April 27, 2015

Upright Again

The Yucca desmettiana that lives on the grey sandstone pot on the pillar by the entrance to the koi pond section has been living upside down for months, since the latter part of last winter. It keeled over after experiencing days of strong winds and was left like that until we had the time to sort it out.


Last week was the time...

I wasn't that surprised that it fell over, seeming as it has a habit of crawling or 'snaking away' as it grows, like this clump we saw at Barcelona Botanical Garden early last year.

Yucca desmettiana
With it being top heavy it was easy enough for it to catch the strong winds and fall over.


It was reasonably well rooted but the way to move forward was to try to reroot it higher up on its existing trunk. So it was reburied much deeper. Cross fingers it will re-root and re-establish itself.



Voila! It's to one side I but quite like it like that!
If it does it should be fine where it is for a few more years, until it gets tall enough again to catch the strong winds and fall all over again.


For now it is secure. And besides Twinkles Is keeping a close guard of it!

Mark :-) 

31 comments :

  1. With Twinkles by its side, it will be upright indefinitely :)

    That's crazy how its snakes about like that, I kind of like it! I wonder if mine will do the same. If it does my cat will likely adopt it as some kind of exotic pet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems Twinkles is actually helping now to keep it upright rather than contributing to it falling down :) hopefully it will creep away too in your garden if you like that look, which I do too.

      Delete
  2. What a coincidence: A friend gave me a Yucca desmetiana just this past Saturday! (It's the cultivar 'Blue Boy', but I don't think there's much difference, if any.) Mine is small in a 1-gallon pot, but it's good to know that it has the tendency to form a curved trunk.

    By the way, I love--no, make that LOVE--that pot. Twinkles agrees! Did you buy it or make it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was thinking along the same lines whilst I was writing this post Gerhard, that it's called something else in the US. Perhaps they are one in the same? We bought the pot because it looked very similar to the coping stones we used on the koi pond. Glad you like it! It's only disadvantage is that it is very, very heavy. Disproportionately heavy to its size which has surprised us :)

      Delete
  3. Wonderful color, with habits that look like something dreamed up by Seuss.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had no idea Yucca desmettiana did that snaky thing. Hope it roots for you. Love the shot of Twinkles in the pot. Such a cute kitty!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alison :) hope it does root as it can go rot as well, yikes!

      Delete
  5. Twinkles seems well satisfied with the work. The Yucca looks pretty good too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She's happy that there's extra space on the pot for her now Jessica :)

      Delete
  6. So nice of you to place the plant to one side of the pot so Twinkles had room to perch there. That specimen at Barcelona Botanical Garden is amazing, the colors and the snaking. I wish this yucca was more reliable here. I've read about enough failures in warmer gardens than mine here in the PNW that I'll just admire it from afar...and think about getting one to overwinter in the greenhouse. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly Evan :) it can be a temperamental yucca, even here I see so many specimens that didn't do well

      Delete
  7. I'd no idea that Y. desmettiana could travel like that, much less fly like yours tried to do. I hope the small one in my garden will be more well-behaved. I'm not sure Pipig is up to the guard duty assumed by Twinkles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pipig will do a fine job too Kris I'm sure :) I was hoping it was going to be more of an upright grower but creeping away doesn't look too bad either

      Delete
  8. Twinkles is such a hard working cat! And I wish my Yucca desmettiana 'Blue Boy' or 'Purpurea' (since the seem to be one and the same) looked as good as yours...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It looks like they are the same Loree :) keep an eye this year, it might pleasantly surprise you!

      Delete
  9. A cat bed. You made a cat bed with shade. What an amazing plant though. I'm like everyone else - love the snaking habit and the colour.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The colour is beautiful even Twinkles appreciates it Missy :)

      Delete
  10. Gosh that's a brave move! Do you already know,that the plant has a tendency to reroot or are you literally 'fingers crossed'? Love that last photo - very regal! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has good potential to reroot from the stem Caro but there's always that risk that rot may happen instead. So fingers crossed still :)

      Delete
  11. What an extraordinary plant, a veritable escape artist! Good job you have Twinkles to stand guard...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Twinkles is doing a fab job so far Janet :)

      Delete
  12. Interesting phenomenon--there's nothing tougher than a Yucca.

    What is the tree in the picture with the ladder--there on the left hand side? It's lovely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Gail, it's a yew tree, Taxus baccata, one of the few plants that remains from when we moved in :)

      Delete
  13. Haha, I think Twinkles also likes it to one side too :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the shades of burgundy in the leaves of the yucca. Twinkles makes a good pot filler in the design idea (thriller, filler and spiller).

    ReplyDelete
  15. Haha, it looks like it's trying to escape from the pot. That photo of the snake-like ones at the botanical garden is incredible! I have one in my garden but haven't seen what they do over time, now I know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even better when they start sending out pups too that will crawl away along with the mother plant Amy :)

      Delete
  16. Twinkles obviously thinks you left that space on the side for him! Cool plant. I would be tempted to plant it so that it could snake along the ground.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to reply to our post, we love reading comments and hearing your views.

Due to the increased level of spam, please note comments on older posts are moderated and only published after approval. All new comments are read and any spam is deleted.