It's A Boy!

Dr Desert Flower informs me that our yucca plant in the front yard is indeed "a boy", not "a girl" plant. The girl yuccas send up a central stalk, and then branch out flowers in little tiered arms that look like a cross between a barren Christmas tree and a Dr. Seuss plant. The male yucca's central stalk goes 18 feet in the air, and then sprouts little pollen pods all along the shaft, that bees, humming birds, and other flying creatures enjoy.

The tip of the stalk is being lit by Saturday night's setting sun, so yes, it is taller than the house. Amazing to me that a 4 foot tall yucca can send out such a HUGE reproductive organ. For the first 2 Springs that we lived here, it is did not send up a stalk. Each year, Almost doing it, but then before the stalk emerged, it blackened and rotted within the plant. Then this year, BAM, from memorial Day and 2 weeks thereafter, it put up about a foot a day.

Once all the pollen pods fall off, I'll have to take a hack saw to it, and cut it down before it dries out completely and topples over. I think it may be too fibrous for my machete to cut through in a single swipe. Video of the machete in action, to come shortly, in the next post! =)