Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Your gift keeps resources like this database thriving!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Sunday - May 10, 2009

From: Dallas, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Turf
Title: Lawn care?
Answered by: Damon Waitt

QUESTION:

I had red yucca planted in my garden last May. They were trimmed back by my lawn care people last winter and currently seem to be slowly growing back. However, the red flower stalk is not growing back at all. I have notice others blooming throughout the neighborhood and I'm wondering what I should do and if it will ever bloom again.

ANSWER:

Lawn "care" sounds like an overstatement. Your Hesperaloe parviflora (redflower false yucca) wil need time to recover vegetatively before it can produce a flowering stalk. Flower production is typically an energy requiring part of a plant''s life cycle and the individual must have enough stored resources to produce these "expensive" structures. Depending on how bad the plant was damaged it may take anywhere from 1-3 growing seasons to recover.

If it is any consolation, here are some nice images of flowering red yucca:


Hesperaloe parviflora

Hesperaloe parviflora

Hesperaloe parviflora

 

 

More Turf Questions

Native grass for lawn in Round Rock, Texas
May 16, 2010 - I am interested in your recommendation for the grass at my home. I currently have St. Augustine but have become very aggravated by it. I am looking for a low maintenance grass that I can replace it wi...
view the full question and answer

Native grasses and turf grass for VA
February 08, 2012 - I recently moved to Blacksburg, Virginia. I am becoming involved with a church here that recently started a grounds committee. There is some discussion within the group of which varieties of native ...
view the full question and answer

Process of converting from lawn to wildflower meadow in New Jersey
March 17, 2006 - I live in northern New Jersey and have an acre of property which is currently a grassy lawn. I would like to make a meadow where the lawn is. What is the process to convert from a lawn to a meadow? Th...
view the full question and answer

Replacing non-native lawn grasses in an HOA in Kyle TX
March 27, 2009 - We just rounded out our first year with our first lawn here in Central Texas. I was stingy with the water and needless to say our non-native, Bermuda grass and St. Augustine lawn did not fare well. Id...
view the full question and answer

Low sedge for lawn in Bakersfield, CA
June 19, 2009 - We have a small area for a lawn, but would like to get away from a traditional "lawn". Can you recommend a sedge grass that would act like a lawn (not much foot traffic)that can be mowed once in a w...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.