TALL AND SPIKY THINGS

It's the time of the year when tall and spiky blooms appear and the most striking of all are the blooms of the red yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora. 

They look striking en masse but equally so with a backdrop of Mexican feather grass. Their flowers are long lasting and attractive to hummingbirds.

The softleaf yucca, Yucca recurvifolia is also a spring bloomer with pendulous bells of white. It looks its most striking when in flower then retreats to a somewhat untidy appearance until it blooms again in  the fall. Its presence in this spot may be long past its time. We shall see.

This is also the time when Manfreda sileri sends up her 4' bloom stalk from the rosette of speckled, strappy leaves.

Probably not everybody's cup of tea!

Then there are the 4' flower spikes of the Manfreda udulata, 'chocolate chips' This plant was a pass-a-long from a gardening friend who is no longer with us, but whom we remember every time her plant flowers, in our gardens, with these fascinating blooms.

MANFREDA UNDULATA, CHOCOLATE CHIPS

I was the lucky recipient, last fall, of a manfreda, Manfreda undulata 'chocolate chips' courtesy of a little competition held by Eleanor, at Garden of E.

The plant itself is pretty enough, with undulating leaves and large dark chocolate splotches. Perfect for a dark chocolate lover!
But when the plant begins to flower, then the show really begins. Over a period of two weeks the plant sends up a flower stalk 5 1/2' tall, and a cluster of flowers began to develop at the top.

The flowers open from the bottom up.

The sepals split and the stamens and pistil, which have been tightly folded on the inside start to unfold.

When the first flower was fully open I noticed a reservoir of nectar. I was tempted to taste the liquid to see if it was sweet. I thought maybe this was what humming birds might sip. Sweet it was but with a rather strange bitter taste as well. I'm not sure if hummingbirds do visit this flower. The anthers are so far from the pistil that I am puzzled as to how fertilization takes place.
Every morning new flowers open giving a spidery appearance to the plant.
It really is a thing of beauty. Thank you Eleanor.