Plant primer: Golden Sword yucca, Golden Sword Adam’s needle

Light: sun

Height: 24 to 30 inches, 5 to 6 feet with flower spike

Spread: 3 feet

USDA Hardiness Zone: 4b

Origin: North America

Central Ohio winters can be very gray, but you can add color to the garden with the ‘Golden Sword’ yucca (Yucca filamentosa ‘Golden Sword’).

This hardy succulent plant has a mounded shape and is considered an evergreen shrub. The 9- to 12-inch leaves are long with a pointed tip, giving this variety its ‘Golden Sword’ name.

The variegated leaves display a beautiful, creamy-yellow stripe through green leaf edge. The leaves hold this color through the heat of summer and the cold of winter.

A tall (5- to 6-foot) flower spike will appear in the middle of the summer, and the white, bell-shaped flowers to follow produce a pleasant fragrance. The scene is more apparent at night, attracting moth pollinators.

Once established, Golden Sword yuccas are drought-tolerant. These plants add a nice architectural element to a garden border, where their shape and leaf color can brighten any space.

See the wonderful leaf color of the Golden Sword yucca in the North Courtyard at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

— Barbara Arnold

Franklin Park Conservatory