Brakelights® yucca

Hesperaloe parviflora Brakelights®

Description

Brakelights® yucca is a clumping perennial with upright cylindrical foliage that develops into a dense clumping plant, 2 ft. tall. Leaves are dark olive-green and taper to a point at tips. Long branched flower stalks with colorful tubular flowers grow to 3 ft. tall for several weeks from early spring to late summer.  Flowers are a deep red and are very attractive to hummingbirds.

Brakelights® yucca is a popular cultivar of Hesperaloe parviflora, a native of southern Texas and adjacent areas of northern Mexico where it tolerates heat, sun, seasonal drought and winter temperatures as low as -20°F.  It has become one of the most preferred flowering accent plants for use in intermediate and low desert regions of California, but has proven to adapt easily to warm inland and valley areas in rock gardens and containers with good success. It is very clean, trouble-free and does best in well-drained soils, full sun and with low amounts of supplemental water.

Plant Type: Perennial
Foliage Character: Evergreen
Habit: Dense, Clumping, Arching
Growth Rate: Slow
Foliage Color: Dark green
Flower Color: Red
Flower Season: Summer, Spring
Soil Adaptations: Well-draining soil
Exposure Adaptations: Aridity, All day sun, Heat, Frost, Drought
Function: Hummingbird plant, Foundations, Flowering accent plant, Container plant, Civic spaces, Borders, Banks, Wildlife value, Rock gardens, Raised planters, Near pools and water features, Mass planting
Height: 2 ft. – 3 ft.
Width: 2 ft. – 3 ft.

Watering Schedule: Low 2

For most situations, we recommend watering deeply every 2 weeks after establishment.

Learn how to apply this watering schedule to your landscape on our How to water waterwise and California native plants page.

Important Notes

These are general guidelines. Always observe and adjust as necessary for your landscape.
If it rains over 1” you will likely not need to water for at least another two weeks. Before watering again, check the soil. It should be significantly dry at least 4” below the soil surface before watering.
To save water, in many cases you can go longer in between waterings during the winter, often up to 3-4 weeks between watering for well-established plants. Two weeks after watering, check the soil approximately 4” below the surface. If it is still significantly moist, you can wait longer before watering again.
In most cases, if you have a “smart timer” or weather sensitive irrigation controller, you may use these features to save some water in in the fall and winter. If you are using automatic weather adjusting functions, continue to allow the timer to run every two weeks. It will adjust the number of minutes it runs to account for the cooler weather.
It is important to group plants with the same water needs together in the landscape to avoid needing to over or under water plants when running your irrigation system.