“You can cut the plant into 2 separate sections and replant both of them…You essentially get an additional plant for free if you cut them and replant them both.”
— Wikihow.com
Years ago, I brought home a plant from a box store’s sales rack. The plant was about half-a-foot tall. It was green and fairly healthy so I brought it home and put it in a new pot with fresh potting soil. When the sunroom was added I moved it into a sunnier location where it grew and grew like “Jack and the Beanstalk.” I was pretty proud of myself even though I had little to do with the plant’s growth. I didn’t know what it was. It had grown so big I thought what a deal: a plant that big would be very expensive and hard to transport. Just as my planting pride started to elevate, I noticed black sticky stuff on the leaves. The sticky stuff would eventually cover the floor beneath. I asked Google what could this be?
Google suggested the culprit was scale insects of a number of different kinds — all sticky. I never saw the bugs, only the residue. The most natural suggested cure was to wash the plant completely with soap and water to get rid of the bugs and residue. I talked Sam into hauling the humongous plant outside, spraying it down, and washing away the black sticky stuff. All was well, until a couple of weeks later when the black sticky stuff returned. We washed the plant one more time to no avail.
When the black sticky stuff returned again it was decided the plant had to leave. We dragged it out into the woods and abandoned it. More than a year later I wandered into the woods only to discover the box store plant was green and alive. It was too large to carry alone so with a large kitchen knife I cut it into two parts and dragged each to the now erected greenhouse. There I planted the lower part with the root ball in the raised bed. The upper part I pulled off the lower leaves and put it in a bucket of water to see if it might root.
It was only then I decided to research this amazing plant, one so hardy as to survive a hacking knife, a harsh winter, no fertilizer, no water, and no sun. I scoured plant books and Google, finally identifying the plant as a perennial evergreen yucca. Though I suspected the now-tree may be tropical, little did I know it could withstand temperatures as low as minus 20 or 30 degrees. Not only that, the yucca variety is drought tolerant.
A lovely little quote from gardenguides.com: “Yucca plants can live for years and years…Their versatility and ability to survive with little water and a lot of sunlight keeps them going.”
The original yucca with the root ball now stands so tall it is trying to burst through the roof of the greenhouse. The cut portion that was rooted is not far behind. It looks like soon we may be harvesting another yucca top for our third tree.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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