Small Soapweed Yucca (Yucca glauca) Growing & Care Guide for Gardeners
Article by Dean Ravenscroft, Ph.D. - Updated 1st Feb 2024
- Plant Characteristics: A tough, hardy yucca with narrow, blue-green leaves that form a dense rosette. Produces tall spikes of white, bell-shaped flowers in summer. Its leaves are edged with curly fibers.
- Growing & Care: Thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. Extremely drought-tolerant and adapted to arid conditions. Suitable for xeriscaping and rock gardens.
- Tips for New Gardeners: An ideal choice for low-maintenance and water-wise landscapes. Requires minimal care once established. The sharp leaves should be handled carefully.
A member of the agave family, Yucca glauca is an easy-to-grow, spiky succulent known by several names, including Small soapweed, Soapweed Yucca, Narrowleaf Yucca, Beargrass, and Great Plains Yucca.
These drought-tolerant, hardy plants are recognized for their long narrow leaves and their central spikes featuring clusters of creamy white, bell-shaped flowers that bloom in late spring.
Yucca glauca makes an attractive addition to seaside gardens and rock gardens, and are useful for controlling erosion.
Yucca glauca photograph by Plant diversity.
Plants reach a height of 16 to 20 inches (40 to 50 cm) at maturity, Spikes add about another 30 inches (80 cm), and the spread reaches 24 to 36 inches wide (60 to 90 cm).
Caution should be taken, however, in not planting them too close to high-traffic garden areas so as to avoid the sharp spines that protrude from the ends of their leaves. It's no wonder why one more name for this plant is Spanish bayonet!
Gardener's HQ Yucca glauca Growing Guide
Native to dry climates of North America, Yucca glauca grows best in hardiness zones four through eight, but will also thrive in colder climates in indoor containers near southern-facing windows.
Outdoors, Yucca glauca plants prefer full sun and dry, rocky, low-nutrient soil.
If starting from seed, soak them for 24 hours before hand and sow them about one or two seed-lengths deep.
Yucca glauca is not just ornamental, but is also a good wildlife plant. It provides nesting space for small animals, birds and reptiles, and its flowers attract butterflies and moths.
Native American tribes have long used the plant for medicinal purposes. When crushed, its roots create a lather that is used as soap - hence the "soapweed" name.
Additionally, its dried leaves are traditionally used to make rope, baskets and mats. Finally - and not unsurprisingly -- the points of the leaves can be used for needles.
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Yucca glauca Growing and Care Guide
- Scientific Name: Yucca glauca.
- Common Name: Small soapweed yucca.
- Growing Zone: USA: 4 to 10; UK H4, hardy to –10°C.
- Life Cycle / Plant Type: Perennial, Succulents and Cacti.
Plant Details
- Plant Height (Inches): 36 to 72.
- Plant Spread (Inches): 24 to 36.
- Time of Bloom: Mid to late summer.
- Flower Details: White.
- Leaf Foliage: Green.
- Fruit:
- Growth Form: Upright / erect.
Ideal Growing Conditions
- Best Light Conditions: Full sunlight.
- Rate of Growth: Medium paced.
- Suitable Soil Types: Clay, Loamy, Neutral, Sandy, Well drained.
- Soil Moisture: Dry.
Caring Conditions
- Care:
- Level of Maintenance: Low.
- Propagation:
- How to Prune:
- Pests:
- Diseases:
Further Information
- Can Attract:
- Tolerant of: Drought.
- Best Garden Use: Border, In the control of erosion, En masse, Rock garden, Seashore, Specimen.
- Family: Asparagaceae / Agavoideae.
- Closely Related Species: Asparagus family.
I hope that you enjoyed this guide on how to grow Yucca glauca. You may also enjoy the following growing guides: How to grow Yucca schidigera and Yucca filamentosa Color Guard..
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