Hi all...

We have (or at least, had) a very healthy yucca plant. It's been
planted directly in the ground for a number of years. It's currently
about 7-8ft tall.

A couple of things have happened this summer

1. The thing seemed to have flowered - a couple of tall stalks appeared
at the top, with lots of yellow flowers

2. With the hot weather we had in July, the ground around the base of
the yucca caught alight. The tree wasn't actually on fire, but the
area was smouldering for about 12 hours.

Now, a lot of the lower leaves are turning brown. I'm not sure if
that's as a result of the yucca having flowered or a result of the
fire.

I have photos on line if you'd care to take a look
http://www.philhartree.plus.com/yucca/yucca.htm

We have now cut back the brown leaves and the flowering stalks. In
addition, it looks like the crown is actually made up from 3 stems that
are all together. The flowering stems appeared from between these
stems, rather than from inside each of them. I hope that make sense.

Thanks in advance for any help / advice
Rgds Phil

I edited the file and it's not yet been 'published' by the ISP

ok - try this and click each pic in turn

http://www.philhartree.plus.com/yucca/

Thanks

In message . com, Phil
writes

We have (or at least, had) a very healthy yucca plant. It's been
planted directly in the ground for a number of years. It's currently
about 7-8ft tall.

A couple of things have happened this summer

1. The thing seemed to have flowered - a couple of tall stalks appeared
at the top, with lots of yellow flowers

2. With the hot weather we had in July, the ground around the base of
the yucca caught alight. The tree wasn't actually on fire, but the
area was smouldering for about 12 hours.

Now, a lot of the lower leaves are turning brown. I'm not sure if
that's as a result of the yucca having flowered or a result of the
fire.

I have photos on line if you'd care to take a look
http://www.philhartree.plus.com/yucca/yucca.htm

We have now cut back the brown leaves and the flowering stalks. In
addition, it looks like the crown is actually made up from 3 stems that
are all together. The flowering stems appeared from between these
stems, rather than from inside each of them. I hope that make sense.

I got to your site but could not get the photographs. Yuccas are very
tough. We had one in our front garden and dug it out 20 years ago. It
re-appeared around 10 years ago and quickly produced lots of babies. My
advice to you would be to wait and see. Ours flowers several times a
year and never gets brown leaves, so you may be in for a long wait.
--
June Hughes

In message .com, Phil
writes
I edited the file and it's not yet been 'published' by the ISP

ok - try this and click each pic in turn

http://www.philhartree.plus.com/yucca/

Got it now. It does look a bit sad. From our own amateur experience, I
would stick with it but someone with a bit more professional knowledge
may be able to assist more.
--
June Hughes

It's not a Yucca, but a distant relative in the same family. It is
Cordyline australis aka 'Cabbage Tree', 'Cabbage Palm', 'Torbay Palm'
etc. etc. It's not a palm nor is it remotely related to the palms, but
folks will insist on using that name. The single 'trunk' topped with a
head of leaves is the juvenile phase, which usually lasts for 5 - 7
years with the older leaves naturally dying away as the 'trunk'
develops. In time, a large, terminal panicle of small, greyish white,
pinkish white or yellow tinged white flowers is produced, often
followed by a mass of rather attractive, pea-sized, white berries.
These last for several months or at least until the jackdaws discover
them. No more leaves will be produced by that crown since it has
fulfilled its purpose and produced a flower spike. The old foliage
eventually dies away since leaves can't last forever.

However not all is lost. Several new shoots form at the base of the
flower spike as it develops. These grow and extend, forming branches
with new crowns that flower after 2+ years when they have attained
sufficient maturity. In time you end up with a rather splendid
branching tree regularly producing masses of flowers. That is until we
have a truly cold winter with prolonged, penetrating frosts, which kill
all of the top growth. Then, the thick, fleshy, subterranean
rootstock produces lots of young shoots part-way through the following
summer. In time these develop into a thicket of 'trunks' if allowed to
grow naturally and the process starts all over again. Yours has already
produced one basal shoot and this will flower eventually, giving you a
twin trunked tree that could look rather impressive.

Your plant is in the transitional stage following its first flowering.
All of the leaves on the current flowered 'trunk' will die away, but
will be replaced with more on the new branches about to form. Hot, dry
weather accelerates the death of older leaves, which is why it appears
that a lot of them are dying away suddenly. If you want the leaves to
last longer, water the plant well in summer and feed it regularly. All
Cordylines grow best in rich, moist, but well-drained soils and can
struggle when conditions are parched and starved. I suspect that this
long dry summer had far more to do with the rapid yellowing of older
leaves than the fire.

In message , June Hughes
writes
In message .com,
Phil writes
I edited the file and it's not yet been 'published' by the ISP

ok - try this and click each pic in turn

http://www.philhartree.plus.com/yucca/

Got it now. It does look a bit sad. From our own amateur experience,
I would stick with it but someone with a bit more professional
knowledge may be able to assist more.
Ours doesn't have a trunk like that but the leaves appear grow directly
out of the ground.
--
June Hughes

June Hughes wrote:

Ours doesn't have a trunk like that but the leaves appear grow directly
out of the ground.

That's because you may have Yucca filamentosa, which is essentially
stemless.

In message .com,
DavePoole Torquay writes

June Hughes wrote:

Ours doesn't have a trunk like that but the leaves appear grow directly
out of the ground.

That's because you may have Yucca filamentosa, which is essentially
stemless.

Yes, I guessed that after reading your post, although I was told it was
a yucca when we moved here some 21 years ago. It can give you a rather
nasty sting if you touch the ends of the leaves. Other people think it
is lovely. Having tried to kill it off once, only to have it grow again
in abundance, we have given up and just give the babies away to anyone
who asks. (They may live to regret it
--
June Hughes