The Best Eye-Catching Types of Yucca Plants

Last Updated on June 11, 2022 by Gary Stephen

Yuccas are one of those exotic looking plants that you simply cannot miss out on. It comes in various shapes and sizes, so you can surely find one to suit your taste. From big and bold to small and modest, yucca plants will always be a great statement piece to any space. In this article, we will present to you the 5 most gorgeous types of yucca plants (swoons!). We will explain why these types stand out among the rest. Moreover, we will also share with you some tips and tricks for each variety. We’re so excited!

Without further ado, let’s hop on over and explore these beautiful yucca plants…

Best types of Yucca Plants

1. Soapweed Yucca (Yucca Glauca)Best types of Yucca Plants

Description:

Soapweed is a flowering variety of yuccas. It comes with long narrow leaves that form into a globular shape. From June to August, it blooms with big greenish-white flowers. They are not only pretty to look at but fragrant as well.

As the name implies, soapweed yuccas are used to make natural soaps and shampoos. Its roots contain an organic compound called saponins. This is what gives the mixture a foamy characteristic . Thus, it is an ideal ingredient for making detergent products.

How to care for a soapweed:

Soapweed yucca often grows in desert grasslands. This drought-tolerant plant can thrive well despite neglect. All it ever needs is plenty of sunlight and it’s good to go. The lack of which, however, weakens the plant and decreases its likelihood to bloom.

Get your Soapweed Yucca here.

2. Adam’s Needle (Yucca Filamentosa)Adam’s Needle types of yucca plants

Description:

Adam’s needle is another flowering types of yucca plants. It comes with green sword-shaped leaves with thread-like white filaments along its margin. It also blooms with a massive cluster of white flowers.

Native Americans used to make clothing out of their fibrous leaves. Just like soapweed yuccas, Adam’s Needle can also be used to create natural soaps and shampoos.

How to care for Adam’s Needle:

Adam’s needle is a hardy plant that is forgiving enough to tolerate some period of neglect. It prefers to bask under the full sun but can also tolerate partial shade. This yucca plant doesn’t like to sit in wet soil though. Thus, it is always a good idea to plant it in well-draining soil.

Get your Adam’s Needle Yucca here.

3. Joshua Tree (Yucca Brevifolia)

Description:Joshua Tree

The Joshua tree is popularly known to be the largest variety in the yucca family. It can grow as tall as 40 feet with roots that can reach as far down as 36 feet deep. When given the right kind of love and care, this plant can live up to over 100 years. Really!

Joshua trees come with a bulky fibrous trunk  that diverges into thick branches. On the tip of each forms a cluster of spiky dark green crowns. Between late winter to early spring, it may grace you with clumps of creamy white flowers.

How to care for Joshua Tree:

This fast-growing tree originated and an iconic symbol of the Mojave desert. Thus, you can expect it to thrive best in warmer climates. It is drought-tolerant and prefers to be in full sun with well-draining sandy or rocky soil.

Get your Joshua Tree here.

4. Spineless Yucca (Yucca Elephantipes)

Description:Spineless Yucca types of yucca plants

Spineless yucca is one of the tallest types of yucca plants. It can grow up to 30 feet in height. Although, its roots wouldn’t mind being pot-bound as well. When confined to a container, growth can be restricted up to 5 feet tall only. On that note, it is one of those types of yuccas that can be potted for indoor settings.

The spineless yucca comes with a thick grayish stem resembling that of an elephant’s foot. Thus, the name “elephantipes”. Moreover, it also has smooth leathery green leaves that form into a rosette. Clusters of white flowers bloom out of the stem during spring and summer.

How to care for a spineless yucca:

This yucca is generally a slow-growing type. Just like most yucca plants, it does well in good draining sandy soil. Moreover, it also loves to be in bright sunlight. Nevertheless, it can tolerate low-lighting conditions too. However, it won’t thrive as much as those grown in full sun. 

Get your Spineless Yucca here.

5. Banana Yucca (Yucca Baccata)

Description:

True to its name, banana yucca plants produce fruits that look like small and fat green bananas. Just like the real banana, this yucca’s fruit is also edible. It tastes naturally sweet, thus it is often roasted or added to baking pastries. 

The plant itself can grow as tall as 3 feet. It comes with long thin leaves that expand about 1 to 3 feet in length as well. In the springtime, it blossoms with whitish flowers. You should know though that banana yucca takes several years to bloom. And when it does, it dies shortly after the flowers have faded.

How to care for banana yucca:

Banana yuccas are native to the arid deserts. Needless to say, it can get by just fine with very little water. This low-maintenance plant loves to be in full bright sunlight.

Get your Banana Yucca here.

6. Red Yucca (Hesperaloe Parviflora)

Description:Red Yucca types of yucca plants

If you want an ornamental outdoor plant with a pop of vivid color, then red yucca is perfect for you. Want to know a secret? The red yucca is not a real yucca plant. (Thus, not included in the count!) Although it came from the same Asparagaceae family, it technically, belongs to the hesperaloe classification. Nevertheless, it is still often called yucca because of its characteristic’s close resemblance to the “real” yucca plant.

This variety distinctly comes with clusters of deep rose-pink flowers that stem from a slender stalk that rises up to 5 feet tall. What makes it even more lovable is that it blooms all-year-round. So, you won’t ever have to miss its beauty!

How to care for a red yucca:

Just like the real yuccas, red yucca is also a very low-maintenance desert plant. That said, it is pretty much drought-tolerant and can adapt to various types of soil conditions. All it asks from you is to endow it with plenty of sunlight.

Get your Red Yucca here.

Other types of yucca plants worth checking out too

Spanish Bayonet (Ycca Aloifolia)

Soaptree Yucca (Yucca Elata)

Mojave Yucca (Yucca Schidigera)

Blue Yucca (Yucca Rigida)

Faxon Yucca (Yucca Faxoniana)

Wrapping Up about Types of Yucca Plants

Who knew there were so many beautiful eye-catching yucca plants out there! We just can’t get enough of its  charms, and neither can social media it seems! They are perfectly low-maintenance and long-lasting. Furthermore, yucca is beyond just an ornamental plant. It also bears other uses such as for medicinal, soap-making, and culinary dishes too. So, what more could you ask for? The yucca truly has it all! 

Gary Stephen
Gary Stephen

Hi, I am Gary Stephen. I have been gardening for a long time. Gardening gives us much benefits and pleasure. Many of us desire to have a garden, but it cannot fulfill the desire for the proper guide or instruction of gardening. So, I am eager to help them. For this purpose, I have developed the MyGardenPlant.com website to make a garden with the proper guide. So, you will get me beside you if you want to know anything about gardening.