18 - North Shore Nows — Wednesday, July 5, 2000 livinaroom Remov rosettes yearly From page 16 rosette. Score or stab this large woody stem-root with a knile or clipper blade and then snap it off, removing the entire bloom stalk and rosette of leaves. The rosectes will only flower once and then are of no further value. Once the old flowering rosette is removed, the plant will produce new offsets or sucker shoots that will be ready to bloom in two years. A confin- uous supply of these new shoots will guarantee new blooms each year. . Removing all the old rosettes will also - provide space and fight for the new offsets to develop without having to encroach on some other plant’s space. If the plant does start to expand beyond its given territory, just cut off the fleshy root to keep it in check. All dead or blemished leaves should also be removed: They peel away from the base by giving them a sharp tug side- ways rather than pulling straight out or up. “> have grown yuceas in two spots, ' for years and have had no trouble con- trolling them or keeping them pre- ‘ sentable. They make an excellent *- accent plant and become a striking fea- . ture plant in July when they produce a 1.5 +2 m white or cream flower stalk _ that dights up the garden particularly in - the late evening. Place a sturdy, one- metre stake at the back of the bloom stalk and secure the stalk before the flowers open. Wind, wet weather or the weight of the flowers will take’ them down - or, snap the ‘stalk. : Yuccas are almost totally disease resistant with the exception of black aphids on the. névwly operied blooms. I generally use a high pressure water.spray on the bloom stems and- buds as they begin to open and this’ inates any aphid colonics that have ed ins : o Old sections of root below the rosettes will sometimes rot out but this i is generally due to poor maintenance. he yucca plant is a member of the lily ‘and consists of some 40 species which . are.mostly native to Mexico. The best known one is -Y, brevifolia, better known as. the: Joshua:Tree.’ Anyone that- has driven from Los Angeles to Las Vegas will remem- ber driving:for miles through high desert ered with the trees. ; Most of the species are stemiess, have aped leathery leaves and prefer a ined soil with good sun ¢xpo- CLOSING OUT SALE Park Royal location only "30% off | all regular priced items *In-Stock Merchandise only. Wriggling award. KIDS in Grade 5 classes at Fromme elementary in Lynn Valley were recently recognized by North Shore Recycling for their work with worras. sure. The common garden variety, Y. fili- mentosa is also known as “Adam’s Needle.” There are several attractive cultivars to be found in garden shops. “Colour Guard” has green leaves with a deep yellows centre and - “Golden Sword” has soft green margins with a yellow centre. “Corbetts Blue” has bluish leaves and “Ivory Tower” has pale. . - green leaves. Y. flaceida and TY. recurvifolia. “both have leaves that curve downward and _are more pendulous. “Garland Gold” is the most attractive with a broad gold band on the leaf. _ Yi glauea, gloriosa and recurvifolia all © have short single or multiple trunks and are not pruned after blooming in the standard way. The flower stalk is cut off, not the entire leaf rosette. The common names are “Spanish Bayonet” or “Spanish Dagger”. Spent bloom stalks, rosettes and dead leaves can be cleaned out at any time but yuccas look best when the clean-up is done right after blooming and again in the carly spring. All Sales Final. 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