evergreen perennials

Yucky Yucca

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It is rare that I see red about something green, but I am having an angry moment about yucca.  Not all yucca, mind you—there are 40 or 50 species of yucca in the larger agave family—but Yucca filamentosa.  I suppose that Yucca filamentosa, sometimes called “Adam’s Needle”, is loved in some places and tolerated in … Read more

First Rituals

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There is an old Christian hymn that starts, “Lo, how a rose ere blooming, forth from a tender stem.”   The lyrics continue, describing a rose that blooms “amid the cold of winter.” Despite the fact that a winter-blooming rose is a seasonal impossibility in this climate, I persist in looking for one.  In fact, that … Read more