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Yucca schidigera 'Torrey Pines' -Agavaceae (Liliaceae) -'Torrey Pines Yucca,' 'Mojave Yucca Coast Form.' - I am excited to be able to offer this coastally adapted trunk-forming yucca- in fact I have been growing these in the ground outdoors in far northern California with 60" of winter rain for five years now! Many of you are familiar with the Mojave Yucca of the California and Arizona deserts, sort of a smaller, less contorted Joshua Tree. There is a small coastal population of this species that occurs in the environs of Torrey Pines State Reserve in San Diego that has much more adaptability to mild and humid climates than its desert loving siblings to the east. In flower it is spectacular, with huge inflorescences of waxy 3" scented dangling bells, and in growth it is more polite than other needle-tipped yuccas. It is pictured here in habitat, showing the zany curls that form along its leaf margins.

In the garden, Torrey Pines Yucca will find itself happy in many different dry summer climates, as long as sandy or loamy soil and a summer dry period can be provided. On the immediate coast, the sunniest spot possible should be provided. It brings a high degree of frost-hardiness from it's high-desert brethren, and has taken lows down below 17ºF in my garden, but should be able to go lower than that, as well as tolerating some snow. It will begin to change from a rosette to a trunk-forming species in 3 to 6 years, after which the first flowerings will occur. It requires a small amount of care, removing spent inflorescences and dead leaves from the trunk, to make an attractive and long-lived member of the dry-summer garden.