Tuesday 14 April 2015

My yukkas

I've had yukkas in the garden since I've been here.  The first one was in a pot when I arrived and I've cut the others from it.  All of them have flourished but the three at the end of the house closest to the road have gone crazy.  I'm not much of a gardener but that doesn't matter with yukkas.  They withstand frost and droughts and lots of neglect.  The only thing I don't like about them is their dodgy habit of sticking you with the sharp tip of a leaf if you’re not careful.

Although every summer I am hopeful, they have never flowered and I didn't even look for flowers this summer.  So imagine my surprise a couple of days ago when I was driving down the road (I usually approach from the other direction) and something white high up by the roofline of the house caught my eye - a huge bunch of beautiful creamy white flowers. 


I've read somewhere that yucca blossoms are valued in Central America as a vegetable, chopped and fried with eggs, and added to stews and casseroles. Evidently, the ancient Mayans used the flowers medicinally, as they have been found to contain high levels of vitamins and minerals.  I'd really like to see how they harvest them. 

I think I'm supposed to prune back the flower stalk when it has finished flowering. 

That won't be happening.

8 comments:

  1. Awesome that you got some yucca blooms. there must be something to do or not do to get blooms.

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  2. Hello Pauline,

    Yucca's are really tough plants. Interesting to read that we can eat the blooms, so many plants are good for us. Throw them in a salad!

    Happy days.
    Bev.

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  3. There will be a recipe somewhere out in cyber space.

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  4. I didn't know this about the yucca blooms! :) Will check it out now...

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  5. I didn't even know they bloom! :))
    And they bloom pretty! And I would try to eat them, maybe in a salad. Since there are many vitamins in, I guess they leave when beeing cooked.
    Have a great day, Pauline!

    Tinna ✐

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  6. Another plant that makes you work for the meal! Very pretty, even so.

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  7. They look so majestic when they bloom!

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  8. I didn't know they flowered - though logic should have told me they did! Mine has never flowered but it has attacked my legs on plenty of occasions. Golly, it is sharp.

    (Using a word like Golly should have been enough to prove I'm not a robot...)

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